


Who are you?

by Rachelskarstensboobs



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 04:10:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 74,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5149781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachelskarstensboobs/pseuds/Rachelskarstensboobs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shaw meets Root, who is really hot and really annoying and seems to have a serious problem with the amount of caffeine she consumes...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Shaw had decided to go for a run at night which had turned out as a huge mistake as she finally had returned to her dorm, sweaty and tired as hell. Pressing the key into the lock and turning it, she could hear a short yelp coming from the inside of the room, which caused her to open the door even wider, only to be greeted by a naked limbs and John Reese's ass crack.

“Like the view...? Get out!” Zoe yelled, which was followed by a pillow that hit Shaw square in the face.

Stumbling back, she slammed the door quickly shut, before she got to see even more than just Johns crack.  
For a moment she debated if she should enter, what did she care if they were having sex it was her goddamn room too! They could do that stuff at Johns for fucks sakes. 

Angry she dropped the pillow and started to bang her fists against the door.

She could hear a noises from inside, before the door just slightly opened again.

“Shaw I know… I know, just please this once...” Without waiting for a reply Zoe shoved some of Shaws clothes into her arms; “ Thanks your the best!” she gave her a bright smile, before she shut the door again, this time locking it, leaving the key inside the lock. 

Sam was left outside baffled, holding her clothes, with her mouth hanging open, they had a rule, only one rule and Zoe was breaking it right now, not that it had been the first time, usually she would break the door down and the problem would vanish in a matter of a couple seconds, but risking seeing John naked forced an unpleasant shiver through her body. Still glaring at the door, she exhaled an angry breath, before she stormed over to the bathroom.

After the hour long shower the room was still occupied and locked, she had tried. With another angry breath she sad down against the wall, stretching out her legs, before letting her head drop down against the wall closing her eyes.

It was 2 in the freaking morning and she be damned if she couldn't at least another couple hours of sleep in. Her body was getting more relaxed by the minute, as she was drifting slowly into slumber, when she was suddenly pulled out of the almost dream state as she was hit over the head, and pushed to the ground by another body.

A hand had slammed into her face, and the person fell over her outstretched limbs face forward barely able to catch her fall.  
Shaw would have laughed at the woman, if she hadn't been punched in the face and earned another kick in the stomach.

“Watch it dimwit!” Shaw growled out, pulling her legs back, rubbing the cheek which the woman had slapped. 

The woman was definitely disorientated not knowing what had happened, she looked around, but Shaw could only see brown curls covering the womans face. 

“What the… “ the woman said, followed by a groan as she sat up rubbing her shoulder.

Shaw kept glaring at her, daring her to say something. The brunette almost jumped with surprise as as her dark brown eyes found Shaws. The woman seemed to suddenly return from her own realm and a small smirk appeared on her lips.

“Well give a girl some warning, before sneaking up on her like that” she said, sounding way to flirty for Shaws taste.

Ugh she was way to tired for this. 

“I didn't sneak up on you, you were the one disrupting my sleep!” Shaw hissed out, before positioning herself back against the wall stretching her legs out. 

She could feel the womans eyes burn into her, hoping that that woman will just leave her alone, she glared back;” Is there a reason for you to annoy me?”

The womans smirk only widened, before she started to get up.

“You tell me to watch it, but your the one sleeping on the floor... in dark!” she chuckled.

“Well cant exactly sleep in my bed can I?” Shaw snapped back, closing her eyes and crossing her arms in front of her, obviously done with their conversation.

“Alright sweety... it was nice meeting you!” she purred back, before walking off.

After that it was even harder for Shaw to go to sleep, with the womans face swirling around on the back of her eyelids. With another sighed, she finally laid down on the floor, curling herself in a ball, trying to get at least a bit warmth because it was getting way to cold out on the floor now..

She had almost drifted over the verge of sleep again, before she heard someone coming up the hallway, now alarmed, her eyes opened again, lifting her head to look around she found the woman from earlier watching her. If that hadn't been creepy enough, the woman had another smirk dancing on her lips.

“You know its kinda creepy to watch people sleep.” Shaw whispered knowing full well that the brunette could hear her.

“Well good thing you aren't sleeping then!” the woman purred back.

“Well if someone wouldn't try to keep me awake, I would be fighting unicorns by now!” Shaw mumbled into her arm.

“Belief me if Id try to keep you awake, you would know it.” Root smirked, walking over to open her door.

But before Shaw could reply there was another loud moan coming from her room again. Shaw rolled her eyes, and turned away from Root and the sounds desperately pressing her eyes close and covering her ears. “Cant a girl get some peace?”

The woman stayed at the door for a moment obviously starting to understand Shaws situation.  
“Sweety, I usually don't share my bed, but for you Id make an exception.” the woman purred again, another smirk dancing on her lips. 

“Ill pass!” Shaw shot back, curling further into herself.

“Suit yourself” the woman pouted, before entering her room.  
“Oh by the way Im Root!”

After another uncomfortable 10 minutes on the floor, knowing full well she wasn't sleeping anytime soon, she got up and knocked on Roots door.  
What could happen other than Root making some dumb remarks. Shaw was sure she could take Root without a problem, yes the girl was tall but usually that was an advantage for her. Plus the girl didn't have a lot of muscles, at least she couldn't recall. And if she was lucky enough she could just borrow a blanket or maybe sleep on that womans couch because even as weird as this woman seemed she couldn't be serious about her and Shaw sharing a bed, could she?

“Hey Sweety, you missed me?”the woman purred with a smile.  
Shaw raised an eyebrow at her, before her eyes took the woman in for the first time, her eyes traveling up and down that strange womans body.

Shaw couldn't deny that this woman was hot, noticing only now that she had put her wet hair in a messy ponytail, and was dressed in a pair of grey pj pants with a black tank top. For some reason she felt the urge to swallow, as her eyes passed over the womans breast, but before her eyes could linger the woman spoke up again.

“Like what you see?” she smirked.

“Im to tired for this shit, are you gonna let me in or what?” Shaw asked angry now glaring back at Root.

Root was still smiling and stepped aside, gesturing for Shaw to come in.

Shaw entered the Room, she didn't know what she had expected but for some reason not this.  
Roots side was on the left and someone else inhabited the right, but the bed was empty and no one else was insight. Looking around, the right side was clean, a couple books were stacked on the desk and a couple pictures of a tv show that Shaw didn't know covered the wall over the bed, other than that its was clean. Looking back at Roots side, the bed was a mess and covered by clothes, her desk was overflowing with papers and energy cans, coffee pats and two desktops, both turned off, the floor was covered with books, but other than that the room wasn't messy at all.

Her eyes were still scanning for a couch, but she couldn't find one, slowly she looked questioningly back at Root.

Root had lifted the laptop from her bed, and placed it on top of her desk, before cleaning her bed from some clothes. 

“You were serious about the sharing a bed part?” Shaw asked bluntly, disbelieve and annoyance clear in her voice.  
“Well if you insist!” Root smiled, walking over.  
“Root.” Shaw warned.

There was a long silence between them, until the brunette put Shaw out of her misery and simply shrugged and said;” You can take my bed, ill take my roommates, she wont be back today anyway.”

Shaw watched the woman for a moment before walking over to Roots bed, not thinking twice anymore she let herself drop in, curling up in Roots bed and pulling the blanket up to her chin and closing her eyes.

Root chuckled at her, turned off the lights, and sat down on the chair, working on something on her laptop.

“Im Shaw by the way… and thank you for... you know.. letting me crash.” Sameen mumbled without opening her eyes. Snuggling into the pillow, breathing Root in was for some reason to overwhelming for Shaw, something warm creeped up her body, that woman smelled good. There was something about this woman, but Shaw couldn't put her finger one it just yet.

 

\---

Shaw woke up, disorientated she looked around. This was definitely not her bed, it took her a moment to remember what had happened to her last night... Root.  
She sad up, looking around, she found the bed opposite her empty, exactly the way it was when she had seen it yesterday, or this morning. 

She ran her hands through her hair and out of the corner of her eyes Shaw could see the screen of the laptop still on. She got up and walked over, only to see Root asleep on her laptop, her head pressing on the keyboard, and writing out the letter GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG on the screen.

Her bare shoulders were covered by goosebumps, and despite the pool of drool that had formed on her hand, she looked adorable. Shaw had watched her for some time until she had realized what she was doing and stopped. Her eyes now scanning over the screen.

Root had been working on something, she could see an open Tor browser, a black box with green writing and one program that was open that only read out the letter G as it was still writing it out, because Roots head was pressing down the key.

Shaw wondered how long this woman had worked until she had finally collapsed and fallen asleep.  
She thought for a moment about putting a blanket around her or maybe waking her to tell her that she had to get ready now if she had class, or make her coffee.

But Shaw dismissed all those thoughts, before glancing one more time at the sleeping woman and leaving the room.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been almost 3 days now since she had met Root, they hadn't crossed paths again until today.

Shaw was sitting in her first class, coffee in hand as she noticed someone was heading for her row of seats, no this wasn't possible no one ever dared to sit near her, just the way she liked it.   
But as she looked over, she saw a tired Root, hair in a messy bun, tight blue jeans and a black hoody probably hastily thrown on so she could make it on time.

“What are you doing?” Shaw asked serious, as Root actually dared to sit down next to her.

But she just got a grunt in respond, as Root rummaged around in her bag, pulling out a can of coffee and poured it into a cup.

“T's to early Sameen!” Root mumbled back, nursing her cup of coffee.  
Shaw's head snapped back to Root, had she just literally used her name? Shaw was sure she had never told Root this name.

“How do you know that name?” Shaw hissed back.

“Its so early, try later!” Root slurred back, barely able to keep her eyes open.  
Shaw would have thought it was cute if she hadn't been to distracted.

Shaw still stared at her, but Root seemed to be in her own realm again, as she propped her head up on her hand, forcing her eyes to stay open.

Shaw noticed the bags under the brunettes eyes, and wondered only for a split second what had made Root stay up and for how long she hadn't gotten to sleep.

Noticing only now that the class had already begun, Sameen forced her focus to the front again.

After a long moment she could hear breathing next to her getting heavier, and it that moment, as her eyes drifted to Root, the brunettes hand stopped supporting her head as it crashed down, landing with a loud thud on the desk in front of her, before snapping up confused. 

Shaw couldn't hold her laughter, as she snorted loudly at Roots confused and now also pained stricken face, while every head had turned towards them.

Root started to rub her face, frowning now she held her hand up, apologizing for the interruption.  
Shaw was still laughing next to her not able to pull herself together gaining more than one angry glare from the teacher.

Root rummaged in her bag again, pulling out a energy can, and pouring herself another coffee.

“Root what are you doing?” she asked amused.

“Dying apparently” Root mumbled back, opening the can and drinking a huge gulp of the energy drink followed by another gulp of coffee.

“The more the merrier!” she added as if her first statement hadn't answered Shaws question.

Apparently the dysrhythmia Root had given herself didn't help her to stay awake at all, as her head was lying on top of her desk, contently breathing in and out.

This was way to distracting, with all her might Shaw had tried to focus on class, but with a hot woman next to you, breathing very loudly, this turned out to be one hard task. Shaw was torn between paying attention to class and watching this annoyingly attractive woman sleeping.

After the class was over, Root was still sleeping, and didn't seem to willing too wake up any time soon. 

It had taken Sameen full 5 minutes to debate whether she should wake Root or just leave her, for the next class to wake up to.  
Deciding that she owed Root one, she pushed her shoulder roughly, but to no avail.  
“ROOT?” Shaw tried again, but the woman didn't stir, after another debate she though about pouring some water over her head, and as she was opening her water bottle, Root stirred back into   
consciousness.

If Shaw was being honest she was slightly upset about that, but closed her bottle again.  
“Class over Root.” Shaw said surprisingly soft.

Root looked back up at her confused, and for some reason this stupid annoyingly attractive woman made Shaw feel things she didn't want to feel, nor ever felt. This was just to weird, and even though Shaw would never admit it, but it scared her. Why was this woman different to her then anyone else?

“Ugh, Shaw what class am I in right now?” Root mumbled, looking around like a lost puppy.

For some reason Shaw had so smile at this, before putting Roots stuff in her bag and pulling her up.

“Lets get you back to bed.” Shaw stated, leading Root out of the classroom.

“Are you gonna tuck me in?” Root smirked, snacking one arm around Shaws.  
Shaw wanted to shake her off, to push her away, put settled on an eye roll, pulling Root a bit more forcefully towards her dorm.

They entered Roots dorm room, Shaw entangled her arm from Roots right away, pushing her blanket back gesturing the brunette to get in.

“Why so eager Sameen? No foreplay?” Root purred, stripping out of her jeans.

Shaw rolled her eyes, trying to look anywhere but Roots very long and very pale legs.  
Root climbed into bed, pulling her blankets up and looking back at Shaw with an raised eyebrow.  
“What no goodnight kiss?” Root pouted.

Shaw shook her head annoyed, slamming the door shut. 

\---  
Music was blasting through the speakers, as Sameen grabbed herself another beer and made her way through the crowd of people, letting herself drop down on the end of the couch.  
She had made up her mind, she would go home with someone else tonight. Since meeting that annoying woman named Root, she felt that irresistible itch between her legs that needed to be put to sleep. It had gotten a problem every time she sat down to do work, and her mind drifted to that brunette and she couldn't keep her hands from traveling.

But despite all the people around her, no one seemed to catch her eye, thats when she caught herself looking for something specific, tall, brunette, dark brown eyes, dopy smirk… .   
With a groan she sat up again, Whats wrong with you? She asked herself, before putting on her best imitation of a smile and walking over to the guy that had showed interest in her the second she had entered the house. 

“You're Shaw right?” he asked with a slur in his voice.   
“Thats right” she answered, pouring herself a shot, if she was going to do this, there was no way she going to do it sober.

\-----  
They had almost made it back to his dorm, when he leaned in a again trying to kiss her for the hundredths time this night.  
“Come on, just a little kissing.” 

He leaned in again, pressing his strong body into Sameen, who was trapped between him and the building wall now, turning her face away from him, pushing him back.  
“When I asked if you wanna get out of here, I meant sex, not kissing or this cuddling shit.” Shaw growled.

Why do they always want to kiss? Shaw just needed them to scratch an itch, not for emotional care, nor some idiot who shoves their tongue down her throat.

He looked at her irritated, Shaw knew this look only to well, once it had enraged her when people looked at her that way, but she just had gotten to used to it by now.

When he tried yet again, she got angry, she pushed him back.  
But when he stumbled back this time, he fell to his knees, puking holding his stomach, not able to hold his drinks.  
That had wrapped up Shaws night, annoyed she rolled her eyes, stumbling away from him, deciding that she should just go home and finish it herself.

After aimlessly walking around for at least 20 minutes in the cold night air, Shaw gave up, letting herself slide down against a white fence. How had she lost focus of her surroundings, blaming it on the alcohol, she tried to find something that maybe indicated to her were she was, but her body was to focused on shivering and keeping warm then on anything else.

Her eyelids started to become heavier, resting her head against the fence, maybe she could just rest her eyes for a moment. But there was a muffled clinking of heels, that kept her awake. The sound moved closer, until it stopped right next to her.

“Sameen?” a womans voice tickled her ears.

Shaw looked up, catching worried brown eyes looking back at her.

“Hmm?” Shaw asked.

“Sweety, you shouldn't be sitting out here!”

There was a small smile forming on Shaws lips, as her brain came to the realization that it was Root.  
She had leaned down, sneaking an arm around her, trying to pull Shaw to a stand.   
Shaw had let her, desperately holding onto Roots jacket, she slipped and pulled them both down to the floor again. 

Root moaned as she hit her head on the ground next to Shaws. Root was now lying on top of Shaw, who still held onto her restricting her from getting up.

Root pushed herself up enough, and found herself face to face with Shaw., who's dazed eyes lingered on red lips. 

Shaw could feel a shudder go through her body, and her mind screamed at her to close the distance. Root squirmed on top of her, freeing herself from Shaws grasp.

“You know as much as I enjoy this we need to go!” Root purred in her ear, before pulling her up and snaking an arm around Shaw to steady her. Root led them hastily down the street stopping for no apparent reason once or twice. Root was looking around before rounding corners which struck Shaw as a bit odd.

Shaw only now noticed that Root was carrying a suitcase and wondered why she hadn't noticed this before. But before her thoughts could linger she felt her body being slammed into a prick wall, crushed by Roots own body pressing into her. It had knocked the breath out of her lungs and when she looked up, she saw that Root was focusing on something on the street, and as she followed Roots line of sight, she could see a police car, just rounding the corner, driving out of sight.

Root released a breath she didn't know she had held, and focused back on Shaw.  
Knowingly she smirked before saying; “Just making sure!”

The sudden whisper in her ear made the drunk woman jump slightly, but Shaw couldn't breath, she could barely form a coherent thought this close to this intoxicating woman. Its just the alcohol she told herself.  
Knowing full well that Root had caught on to her momentary stupor, another mischievous smirk appeared on the brunettes face.

“Whats a girl like you doing out here all by herself?” Roots voice turned husky and seductive, warm breath tickling her cheek. Root pulled herself even tighter against Shaws chest now, that they were out of harms way.

"Its dangerous out alone this time at night" Root purred again, lips grazing Sameens ear. Shaws head was spinning at the light-speed things were moving. Finally gaining back some control a frown crept back up her face.

But that didn't keep Root from bringing her arms lazily around her neck, latching behind her and keeping a suggestive distance.

Realizing that she was staring at red lips again, guessing that Root had probably taken that as an invitation her mind went into overdrive, she needed space. She pushed Root away from her, stumbling slightly in the process.

Finally able to compose herself, she looked back at Root who had a shit-eating grin on her face.  
Root was enjoying herself way to much, if Shaw wouldn't be so drunk she would wash that grin off of Roots face.  
\---  
It had turned out that Shaws dorm actually had not been that far away, but she was sure that if it hadn't been for Root she would have never found her way back, not that she would ever tell the other woman that though.  
Root had her arm around Shaws waist again, steadying her, the drunk woman had looked through every pocket, but came to the conclusion that she must have lost her keys, only to Roots delight.

“Why Sameen, you could have just aske….”  
“Root I will murder you if you finish this sentence.” Shaw interrupted gruffly. 

Root chuckled, before leading them back to her room.  
Entering, the room was empty no roommate insight, Shaw sat down on Roots bed, teeth shattering and shivering, taking off her jacket.

Root handed Shaw a big sweater, telling her to take her bed. Sam nodded thankfully and pushed her shoes off, before climbing under Roots covers, still shivering.

“You know we can share body heat, i know a few tricks that will warm you right up.” Root suggested smirking, biting her lower lip.

“Root?”

“Sameen?”

“Shut up!”


	3. Chapter 3

Sunlight danced over Sameens features, drawing her from the lightest state of sleep and into consciousness. She buried her face deeper into the pillow, groaning she felt a hammering in her head. She couldn't even remember when she had her last hangover. For a brief moment she was startled by the smell of her own bed. Slowly blinking her eyes opened, looking around, she realized she wasn't in her own bed.

She slowly sat up, taking in the room. There was low sounds of a laptop and as she looked around she found a bottle of water and next to it a couple of tablets on the nightstand. 

Picking up the water bottle, a piece of paper caught her eye.

“Sorry Sweety, couldn't stay, hope you feel better.”

Shaw rolled her eyes, before crumbling the paper and throwing it away from herself.

For a moment she wondered where Root had gone, looking at the opposite bed it looked like no one had slept in it at all.

She cradled her head in her hands, debating whether she dared to walk to her room or if she should go for another nap in Roots.

Her question was answered, as she felt a beep coming from inside of her pants, Shaw struggled for a moment to get her phone out. She looked down on it.

/ Hey you left your keys, idiot! Joss is looking for you!/ Zoe

Shaw took the water bottle, and took a huge gulp, before leaving.

 

\-----

“What are you wearing?” Joss asked amused.

Shaw looked down on herself, wondering what Joss was talking about.  
She was wearing her black jeans from last night and a comfortable oversizes black batman hoody which Root had given to her last night, nothing that Carter needed to know.

With a shrug she dropped down on her bed;” Clothes!”

Carter raised an eyebrow at her shacking her head;” Okay… So you remember how I worked that shift for you months ago and you said that you owed me?”

Shaw groaned, having an idea where this was going.

“Get to the point.”

“Shaw I need you to cover my shift tonight, please! I had asked month ago to get off tonight and ...”

Shaw groaned again;” So you need someone to cover for you tonight?”

“Yes, please Shaw you know I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important!” Carter begged.  
“It will just be the shift from 1am -6:30am it’ll be quiet and if not you get to kick some ass...”

“Fine, but if I don't get to kick the crap out of someone, I'm blaming you!” Shaw answered with an eye roll, before crossing her arms.

“Thank you, thank you!!” Carter squealed, with a bright grin on her face, before running off.

 

\----

It was 3:15am and Shaw was getting up for her second round, she had checked all the rooms, everything was locked. Her hand closed tighter around her warm coffeemug.

When she had almost finished her round on the 2nd floor, passing by Prof. Finchs office, she saw a flash of light, but looking back for a second time it was gone.

She decided to check it out non the less, as she tried to open the door, she found it unlocked, which was odd, she was sure it had been locked earlier when she had checked on her first round.

Upon entering the room, she could hear that the computer had been turned on, and her eyes fell on a flash drive, which was blinking happily away. She squinted her eyes for a second, as she looked around with her flashlight, but no one was there.

She rounded the desk to make sure that no one was hiding under it, her eyes fell back on the desktop, there were windows open, some one was extracting data from this computer to the flash drive.

She rushed forward, but before her hand could even get close to the drive, someone stepped out of the shadows behind her, arm coming around under her outstretched one, before she was roughly yanked back against the body behind her, she dropped the coffee she was holding and found herself in a headlock.

The person behind her was taller, but also much skinnier, her body acted upon instinct, as she brought her legs up, using the desk, to push back, they crashed into the bookshelf behind them, her opponents was taken by surprise. Shaw elbow followed hitting the person right into the ribs, taking that momentum to free herself, she pushed the person away.

The figure took a moment to compose, before getting back into a fighting stand.  
Maybe this night would be so bad after all. 

Shaw closed the distance between them, striking out with her with her left fist, which was quickly blogged by the attacker. Her right fist followed, but her opponent was quick enough to dodge the second attack and before Shaw was able to react, she felt a kick in her stomach, followed by a blow against her temple.

She staggered back, trying to catch her breath and to shake the dizziness coming with it.  
She could feel the rage inside her built, as the adrenalin pumped through her veins, she took a deep breath. 

This time she was ready, she saw the first punch from the attacker coming, and dodged it with her left arm, knowing the second one was following, she grabbed the hold of the womans right arm, yanking her forward, kicking the attacker in the stomach, but before she could go for a second time, a hand traveled around her knees, lifting her off of her feet, she fell backwards with the person on top.

She crashed down, trying to get a hold of her attacker, she touched a boob, for a second she was distracted, she was fighting a woman.  
In a second the woman had her pinned down, the attacker was straddling her, Shaws arms trapped between herself and the womans knees, not able to move.

The woman hit her square in the face, and Shaw could feel her lip split, as she tasted blood.  
Using her whole body, she had managed to push the woman off of her, they both got up again, facing each other panting.

For a second the whole room illuminated, as bright lights came through the windows. Her eyes squinted, hoping to at least get a glimpse of the woman, she could make out a slim figure, wearing a leather jacket, black jeans and a sky mask.

But as fast as the moment had come it vanished. The woman had seemed startled, as she had stopped her attack, the moment the lights had came through the window.

Shaw took advantage of that moment, rushing forward, she started to throw punch after punch at the woman, who had managed to somehow dodge all her attacks, the woman had even managed to duck her high kicks.  
They were fighting for some time now and neither seemed to back down. Something weird was going on though, the woman didn't try to attack Shaw anymore, she was waiting for Shaw, ready to dodge her attacks.

Shaw wondered if she was waiting for her to make a mistake, or if she just did this to irritate her.  
Clearing her thought again, she rushed at the her again, but the woman just turned to the side, grabbing her by the neck and pushing her forward.

A sharp surge of electricity coursed through her body, she fell, shacking violently. Shaw knew this feeling. The woman had played dirty and had tasered her. Shaw was angry she should have been ready for something like that.

For some reason the woman had caught her before her body could have touched the ground. She wanted to fight, to punch this woman to make her suffer, but her body would not obey her.

The woman had dragged her over to the chair, before sitting her down. Shaws whole body was still shaking violently, she tried to concentrate to move her hands, but it just kept shaking not obeying any of her orders. 

The woman had walked back over, tying her hands with cables to the chair, before shifting her attention back to the computer. 

Shaws eyes had followed her and she could see window after window open, green text appeared and the woman started to type, her fingers running smoothly over the keyboards.  
All Shaw could do was watch, which enraged her, she wanted to get up and stop her but she couldn't. 

The woman pulled the flashdrive out of the keyboard, before checking her phone and typing something, she walked back to Shaw.

The woman brought a hand up to her cheek, running her thumb over Shaws split lip. Shaw wanted to bite, to spit, to punch this woman, to make her suffer, to make her scream in pain,but all she could do was glare and shake. 

The woman looked at her for a moment longer, before calmly walking out of the office, which pissed Shaw off even more.


	4. Chapter 4

Shaw was exhausted, she had spent 2 hours at Finch's office, going through every detail about what had happened with the police. And as it hadn't been embarrassing enough to be overpowered by a hacker while on duty, she had to answer the same question at the police station again.

She didn't know how this hacker woman was able to top her, she was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and usually she could hold her own against opponents with little trouble, especially if those people were taller than her.

Shaws muscles tensed, rage filled the insight of her chest, she actually felt humiliated, she never lost a fight! Thats what she was good at, but then again the woman had used a taser, there wasn't much she could have done, making this all the more pointless.

After another hour, of retelling her story, feeling like she was talking to a prick wall, she was shocked that she hadn't strangled this incompetent officer yet.  
She had to sign a couple pieces of paper, until she was finally allowed to go. 

Making her way home, she noticed that it was already 9:40am. 

If one more person would ask her what had happened, she was sure she would start to bang her head against a wall until she was unconscious… .

Frowning she remembered that she lived with Zoe, who exists for that sort of stuff.

Not even thinking about what she was doing, she passed her room, coming to a stop at Roots. She shook her head, not believing what she was about to do, she knocked.

She could hear a rumble from inside the room, before she heard the key in the door turn.

She was greeted by Root who looked like death. Her skin was paler than usual, the bags under her eyes seemed darker. Her hair open, looking disheveled.  
“Sameen?” Root murmured tiredly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Sorry I thought you were already up.” Shaw grunted out, feeling seriously a bit sorry now for waking Root.

“Rough night?” Root questioned as her eyes fell on the cut on her lip.  
Shaw unconsciously licked the cut, before responding.

“You don't know the half of it.”

A small smile appeared on the brunettes face, before pulling Shaw inside and sitting her down on a chair.

“You aware that blood is smeared all over your face?” 

Shaw wasn't, but just shrugged in responds. The hacker leaned into her, inspecting the cut, before running her thumb slowly over it. Shaw pulled back a little when Roots finger touched her skin, but she didn't move away, instead she raised an questioning eyebrow at Root.

Root smirked again, walking over wetting a towel under the sink, before bringing it to Shaws face to brush the blood away, but Shaw snatched the towel, and started to rub at her face herself.

“What happened to you?” Shaw asked, before Root would start asking questions.

Root looked back also shrugging, before dropping down on her bed.

“Long night, lots of work..” Root answered plainly not meeting Shaws eyes.

“What happened to your lip? ...Do you need me, to kill someone?” Root asked smiling.  
Shaw shook her head,” Oh no that one is all mine!” she answered more to herself than to Root.

It was clear to both that neither wanted to talk about last night, or in Shaws case this morning. Looking back at the brunette, her smirk had turned mischievous for some reason, before disappearing all together.

“So... you came to play doctor?” Root purred, tilting her head to the side.

Shaw mentally face-palmed herself, trying to come up with something quickly, but she couldn't think of anything.

She came here to escape Zoes questioning and not for Root to do exactly that.

She could feel the brunettes curious eyes back at her again, shit she hadn't said anything the whole time.

“I… I was hungry! I came here looking for food.” She finally answered.

“And you found something so much better ...” Shaw rolled her eyes at that before sighting;” So do you have food?” 

“Sorry Sweety wasn't able to go shopping yet.” Root replied, scrunching her nose up.

“Bummer!” Shaw answered followed by a long awkward pause. 

Root stood up again, walking over towards Sam; “I mean you can come over tonight, ill get us something from Chipotle and we can...“

„Noo… I mean I would, but I really don't want to“ Shaw replied.

There was a knock on the door, both their heads turned. “Root? You there?” a male voice sounded as the door opened slightly.

Root hurried over to her desk, opened one of the drawers, before pulling something out.

She gave Shaw a short apologetic look, before hurrying over to the guy that had just entered.  
They stood way to close for Sameens taste.

“You got it?” he whispered.

“Yes everything is on here… now the rest Is up to you!” Root whispered back, leaning slightly forward, placing something in his hands that Shaw couldn't make out.

The guy looked back skeptically at Shaw, before whispering back; “There is something else...”

Root let out an angry sight, before turning her attention back to Shaw.

“Im sorry sweety, maybe we can talk some more later over dinner.” she winked, before leading Shaw out of the room.

“I wouldn't count on it.” Shaw answered stiff, as the door slammed shut behind her.

What the hell were they talking about and more importantly what did that guy want from Root?

Slightly angry Shaw walked back to her own room, letting herself inside she found her room thankfully empty.

\---

“Shaaaaaaaaaw!” Zoe drawled out, softly kicking her repeatedly. 

Shaw was lying in her bed, turning quickly, catching Zoes foot, before she could kick her butt again.

“Would you stop!”

“Only if you going out tonight:” Zoe smiled back. “Johns coming over and I have some things planned that don't include you!”

“Why don't you go to his place” Shaw spat out angry, burying her face inside her pillow.

“You know why, Harold has some problems with the fact that people have sex in his room.”

“So do I!” Shaw groaned out.

Zoe just laughed at her;” You know... ive seen you coming out of Grooves room twice now, something you wanna share?”

„Grooves? Who are you talking about?“ Shaw asked confused, lifting her head from her pillow.

„Oh come on… don't play dumb with me… Im talking about hot, tall and scary smart across the hall, but didn't think that skinny was your thing really.”

“Wha… Do you mean Root?” she asked still confused.

“So your not even denying it…” Zoe grinned.

“Denying what?” 

Zoe shook her head in disbelieve; “That your sleeping together.. that you have a thing for her…”

“We are not sleeping together… and I don't have a thing for ... Root and I are … “

“Lovers ...” Zoe smirked

“More like acquaintance.”

Zoe rolled her eyes at Shaws stubbornness, before kicking her butt again.

“ZOE…!”Shaw groaned, in a sort of warning, looking dangerously back at her.

“What happened to your lip?” Zoe asked concern now lacing her voice.

“Nothing…!” Shaw groaned frustrated burring her head back into her pillow.

“Shaw tell me what happened… was it a bar fight? … or like a weird sex thing?… Did you ...”

“Will you drop it, if I promise I wont be here later?”

Zoe contemplated for a moment, knowing that Shaw wouldn't tell her anyway she shrugged.

“Alright.”

 

Root opened the door only slightly surprised to see Sameen standing in front of her.

“I knew you would come.”

Ugh, she hated those brown eyes and the flashing bright smile on Roots face, for some reason her heart started to race.

“Yea.. don't let it go to your head… I’m here for the food!” Shaw answered brushing past Root.

“Well you sure know how to make a girl feel special.” the brunette answered sarcastically.

Root had set up a desktop on the dresser at the end of her bed. Walking over Root sat back down on her bed, making herself comfortable, before pulling a half eaten burrito out of the paper bag next to her., starting to eat.  
Shaw stood in the middle of the room, she watched Root for a moment, before walking over to her.

“Got something else in that bag?” 

“Why don't you get over here and find out?”

Shaw knew exactly what Root was doing, but she really wanted to know what else was in that bag, so she let out an angry groan, before climbing over the bed next to Root, ripping the bag out of the brunettes grasp.

“What are we watching?” Shaw asked happily unpacking her food.

“Salt… if you don't have any objections.”

Shaw rolled her eyes, but shook her head, burring her face in the burrito. Root started the movie from the beginning again, before leaning back, finishing the rest of her own burrito.  
Shaw was devouring hers, feeling eyes burn into her side, she finally turned her head.

“What?” Shaw asked muffled, still chewing on her food.

“Nothing.. but if I had known that your so cute when you eat, I would have gotten you something earlier!” the brunette smirked, tilting her head into Shaws space.

Shaw looked shocked for a moment, before glaring at Root;” You did not just call me cute! Im not cute!”

Root scrunched up her nose, leaning back into the pillow smugly.

Shaw had finished her burrito and she swore she only stuck around because the movie was good. She had leaned back also, sitting close to Root, but not touching. Shaw had been sure the moment she had sat down on her bed, that Root was going to make a move, just to piss her off, even though she was sure that Root would run the moment something actually would happen.

Still she was actually glad that Root hadn't made any advantages, its not that she wasn't interested, she didn't know why, but being so close to Root made something in her stomach turn, she first thought it might have been the burrito, but this wasn't the first time it had happened. She hated not knowing what was going on, Root turned everything upside down. She could also not believe that she had let Root trick her into this situation.

Shaws train of thought was interrupted as she felt Root next to her stir, before the brunettes head rolled down on her shoulder. 

Annoyed she rolled her eyes, before looking down at a sleeping Root, who smacked her lips together, snuggling more into the crook of her neck.

She thought back to this morning, Root hadn't slept all night, and she probably hadn't gotten more sleep after Shaw had left. Deciding that this wasn't to intimate, she allowed Root to stay that way, as long as she didn't try anything else. It wasn’t long until Shaw fell asleep herself.

\---

Shaw was pulled out of sleep, as she could feel something move between her tights. Her skin was already covered in sweat and a shiver went done her spine as she felt hands groping her chest.  
She tried to move the hair out of her face, but found that her left arm was restricted by something.

There was a whimper coming from next to her, now finally getting her attention she opened her eyes.

Root was completely entangled with her, the brunettes face was buried against her chest, her hands desperately groping Shaws t-shirt. Their legs were intertwined, one of Root legs was pressed between Shaws, moving up and down.

Shaws first instinct was to push Root out of the bed, this was to intimate, to close. She pulled her body away from Roots, trying to extract her arm out from under Roots side. Roots skin was burning and her clothes drenched in sweat. 

Shaw tried to press the brunette away on her shoulder, before she came to the realization that Root was having a nightmare.

Root had started to scratch Shaws arms, pushing her fingernails into her skin. Her whole body was shaking and covered by sweat. Shaw shifted, only to see that Root was crying in her sleep, before she started to mumble things Shaw couldn't understand.

“Root?” Shaw tried softly, trying to hold her arms down. 

But the hacker was getting more frantic by the moment her arms were restricted, she started to struggle;” dont hanna… NOOOO!” Root screamed out, before her eyes flew open.

Disorientated, she started to punch Shaw, who struggled to fend the taller woman off.

“Root! STOP! Its ok! You had a nightmare …. Root its me Shaw! Please stop!” Shaw tried again.

Roots frightened eyes looked back at Shaw, finally comprehending what was happening. 

Root sat up, distancing herself from Shaw, as her whole body shook from the nightmare.

”Im so sorry Sameen! I just.. Sorry!” Root whispered embarrassed, before lying back down, her back turned towards Shaw. Root started to pull her legs up, curling up into a ball.

Shaw didn't know what to say or what to do, should she leave? Should she say something? This was not a situation she knew how to handle. She hated those situations were people expected her to do the right thing, the problem was she didn't even know what the right thing was.

Shaw settled on lying back down. But she felt increasingly more uncomfortable, she pressed her eyes closed trying to think on everything but the woman who was in bed with her. She felt like something was dying inside her, she wasn't used to that feeling, nor did she like it.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she could hear sobs coming from Root. She was crying, her whole body shaking again. 

Shaw knew that Root tried to be quiet, unsure she decided to move towards Root. Fighting the urge to run, she pressed the front of her body against Roots back trying to be a source of comfort, before stroking the hair out of the brunettes wet face, resting her hand on Roots arm. Shaw could feel Root tense under her hand, thinking that she had done something wrong, she pulled it back.

Root had turned just slightly, her hands grasping Shaws, before she intertwined their fingers together and pulled their hands to her chest, turning away from Shaw again.

This was to much for Shaws taste, but Roots body had stopped shaking and the sobs had quieted down. This was so foreign, but the longer they stayed that way, the more she was able to relax.  
She decided that lying with Root like that wasn't unpleasant. 

Roots breathing was becoming more regular again, before she recognized the deep content breathing again. Root had fallen back asleep. 

Shaw tried to pull her hand back from Roots grasp, but was met with a death grib, sighting, she settled her head between the crook of Roots neck.

It didn't take long, before she had fallen back asleep.

– 

Shaw was waking up alone, Root was no where in sight. She sat up running a hand through her hair, she couldn't believe that she had slept here, with Root, cuddling. Something was definitely wrong about that, she didn't do cuddling.. or sleeping next to someone for that matter. 

She was pulled out of her thoughts, as Root entered the room, only in a towel covering her body, while she dried her hair, stopping in her tracks.

“You're still here?” Root asked not catching Shaws gaze.

“Actually I was about to leave..” Shaw answered.

“Good...” Root answered still not looking at Shaw.

Shaw could feel the tension in the room built, she also knew that Root was avoiding her gaze.  
Was this about last night? Had she done something wrong? Sighting she took a deep breath, she didn't know what had come over her but she needed to know.

“Are you ok?” 

“Yes Shaw! Im fine…” Root answered, her face remained impassive, her eyes cold and distant.

Something cold wrapped itself around Shaws stomach as she looked back at Root. There was not a hint of playfulness in her voice. Hearing her name come out of the brunettes mouth, sounded harsh somehow.

“Root is… Are you sure?” Shaw asked hesitantly.

“Please just leave…!” Root breathed out in a whisper, turning her back towards Shaw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the reviews, I apologize for my grammar/spelling mistakes, english is not my first language, but ill try my best ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Shaw was left confused by the sudden change of Roots demeanor towards her. She decided not to think anything of it, its not like she had meant to stay the night in the first place. If all, it was Roots fault, she had held onto her hand and had restricted Shaw from leaving.

\--

The next day Root had not even bothered to show up to class, not that she ever paid attention to it anyway. Usually Root would sit down next to her, a little to close, just to piss her off. That was on the days she didn't pass out on the table right away, distracting Shaw with her annoying breathing and her cute, stupid, sleeping face from class.  
This was the first time Shaw was actually able to pay attention in class, without someone distracting or annoy her, she could definitely get used to it. 

On the fourth day, she spotted Root across the hall, she looked exhausted, the bags under her eyes were bigger than usual and her hair even messier. Looking the brunette up and down, she realized that Root was wearing her shirt inside out and Shaw found herself wondering when was the last time Root had actually slept.

Every time she had run into Root, the brunette wouldn't meet her eyes, she visibly tensed up and walked the other way. The hacker had actually started to avoid her all together. In the beginning Shaw loved it, but after a week of this, it was getting ridiculous, she wanted the perky psycho back. For some reason Shaw found herself missing the stupid innuendos and that dopey smile from the brunette, not that she would ever admit to it.

–

Shaw was tossing and turning for hours, she just couldn't fall asleep, she flipped her pillow over and threw the covers off herself, then she pulled them back over her body. No matter how she lay down it didn't seem right, she sighed in defeat and laid down on her back, watching the dark white ceiling above, that she only could see because of the led lights of Zoes laptop.

Shaw usually could sleep everywhere and anywhere, what was wrong now? She stretched out, her arm searching for her phone besides her pillow. She pushed the home-button and saw that it was already 3:50am.  
Only 2 more hours before she would have to get up. 

With a groan she put her phone back and turned on her side. She closed her eyes again, before her mind drifted to Root. She found herself wondering if Roots was actually sleeping or doing whatever Root did at night. She pictured Root sitting on her desk, laptop sitting in front of her, fingers running over the keyboard, with a 99% chance of half a can of coffee next to her. Shaw had to suppress a smile, remembering the first morning she had woken up in Roots bed and finding her asleep on the desk. 

Shaw still couldn't believe that Root was acting this way, but Shaw would not play this stupid game, if the hacker wanted to be childish that was her problem. 

For some reason Shaw had started to think that, just maybe she had done something wrong… she hated that she didn't just leave that night, maybe everything had stayed normal. And why the hell did she even care? Why was Root making her care, when everybody else made little to no difference in her life and Root literally stumbled into her life and somehow manages to get under her skin in the simplest ways.

-She hated thinking about Root, why even bother? Its not like Shaw had ever actually tried to make friends and certainly not with someone like Root. The hacker kept pushing her buttons, but at least she always knew when she had to stop. Shaw knew that sooner or later people would leave her, not that she ever cared that much about it. Shaw was more of a pragmatic anyway and Root had already served her usefulness. 

Sam groaned, she was to awake to actually get another hour of sleep now. She swung her legs out of bed and sat there for a moment, before quietly putting her running clothes on. She grabbed her phone looked back at the clock 5:05am and rolled her eyes, silently making her way to the door in the dark room. 

She walked down the hall, before she heard a door opening. For a second she had thought, that maybe it was Root, so she turned around only to catch fucking Martine Rousseau leaving Roots room. Shaw also knew for a fact that Martine lived outside the campus, so what the hell was she doing here?

Noo way! Shaw could feel anger swell in her chest, her fingers closing into fists and her jaw clenched. What was Martine doing in Roots room at 5 o’clock in the fucking morning?

Martine didn't notice her though, she was carrying clothes in her hand, going inside the bathroom, probably for a shower. Sameen felt the irresistible urge to punch something, she wanted to drag Root out of her room, and ask her what the hell was going on, but remembering that it wasn't Shaws place to ask those questions and also she wouldn't give Root the satisfaction of knowing that she cared,.. which she didn’t, so she stalked off angrily.

It was still dark outside, the cold crept under her skin the second she had stepped out. It had started raining, but Shaw didn't care, she just needed to get away, she sprinted to the gym.

Her hair was drenched when she had finally made it, goosebumps had started to cover her skin, but Shaw felt hot on the inside, completely fueled by anger. 

Shaw had gone right for the punching bags to her delight she was the only on there, besides the staff member who had fallen asleep at the counter. She stuffed her hands into a pair of boxing cloves and began sparring with the bag that hung from the ceiling.

She didn't know how long she was doing this for, until she felt a pair of eyes on her back.

“What?” she asked, turning around.

John smiled back at her, raising his eyebrows at her. 

“I think the bag deserves a break, you wanna spar?” 

Shaw still glared at him, but nodded and they walked towards he fighting rings.

“You okay? You look … angrier than usual?” 

“Yes… just felt the need to punch something.” Shaw growled back.

“Know the feeling...” John smiled;” Mark Ingram is having a party tonight you coming?”

“Alcohol, food, with a 80% of punching someone… im going!” 

John shook his head smiling, slipping on his own pair of boxing gloves and getting into the ring.

Shaw had gone for the first punch, which was blocked by john followed by a blow to her head. She stumbled slightly, before John moved quickly his foot kicking her legs out under her, causing Shaw to fall and land on her back.

“Uuh Shaw you loosing your touch...” John smiles obviously amused.

“Playtimes over!” Shaw spat.

\--

Shaw had actually been able to blow off some steam, it had felt good, until the moment she looked upon Roots door again, remembering why she had gone to the gym in the first place, angry she pushed inside her room.

Frowning at that weird feeling inside her again, like she had eaten something rotten, she told herself to get a grip. What do the cool kids say? The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else, not that she needed to get over someone but that solution seemed to work with most other problems too. She slipped under the shower getting ready, not really feeling in the mood for a dress, she just put her usual black pants on, with a black shirt. 

There was a knock on the door and John entered right after, there was a slighted pained look on is face as he entered.

“Oh your such a baby...” Shaw joked.

John rolled his eyes at her; “You know its not nice to attack someone who's not paying attention...”

“Always be aware of your surroundings John..” Shaw tsked, 

Shaw grabbed the whiskey bottle, taking a generous swig of it, she relished in the sensation that it left as it burned down her throat. 

-  
Sam had already downed some shots with Joss and Zoe in the car, until they had arrived at the party.

The moment they entered Marks house, Zoe dragged John off to wherever, leaving Joss and Shaw to themselves. Looking around, the place was packed with already drunk people either sucking each others faces, dancing or talking animatedly with each other.

Joss reached for Shaws arm and lead her towards the living room. They plopped down on the dark leather couch in the middle of the room.  
They lined up some shots, when Shaw noticed Thomas, who had sat down next to her.

“You mind if I join in?” He asked and nodded towards the shots.

“Get your own glass and you’re in” Joss interjected, before Shaw could say anything.

Thomas was the perfect candidate to spent the night with, so Shaw nodded, taking the shot, before refilling their glasses. She put on a placed smile and had started to flirt with Thomas, who happily flirted back. She hated those parts, where she had to smile and act interested, her cheekbones started to hurt after a while and the longer it took, the faster she got angry and bored. But she had learned that this was the easiest way, she had watched other women do it before, and they always got what they wanted, it had taken her some practice but she was a fast learner.

Someone had come over and started talking with Thomas, so she could drop that act for a moment and breath freely. She looked to her left, where Joss gave her a slightly confused smile.  
“So the thing with you and that Samantha girl didn't work out... I guess?”

Sameen didn't understand, she frowned at Joss;” Samantha? Do I even want to know what you are talking about?”  
Joss just gave her a knowing smile before nodding her head towards something behind them. Shaw followed her line of sight only to catch Root and Martine, standing next to each other by the kitchen counter. They were standing very close together, smiling and talking to each other. 

Root was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans with a white shirt and a leather jacket and to Sameens surprise she actually looked rested. She had that dopey smile on her face, Shaw visibly tensed up her hands balled into fists again. There was this feeling inside her again, she last had felt it this morning.

“You mean Root? She and I? No way… we never had a thing, she just helped me out once.” Shaw answered through clenched teeth.

Carter raised an knowing eyebrow at her, slowly nodding her head; “Uh huh!… Sure...”

Shaw glared back at Joss, in no way was she having this conversation now, she turned her head back to Thomas and joined into their conversation.

Joss had left them after this, walking over to Cal who had just arrived. Shaw found herself completely distracted by Roots presence. She had repositioned herself on the couch again, so she was able to keep an eye on Root all night. 

To Shaws frustration the music was playing loud enough to cover Root and Martine’s conversation.  
Next to her, Thomas was chatting away and as hard as she tried to focus on what he had to say, it wasn't interesting enough to keep her eyes from wondering over to the brunette. Root had spent most of her night chatting with Martine, whenever she could hear her laugh, Shaw clenched her jaw, taking another shot.

Suddenly she saw wavy brunette hair flying, so she looked back quickly. Root had left Martine who walked over to Lambert, this was her chance she thought. Thomas was talking as she got up and walked away, he had looked at her awkwardly, realizing that she wasn't paying attention, he looked a bit upset and lost. 

Shaw couldn't care less about what Thomas thought of her, she followed Root upstairs, which became harder than expected. She was way to drunk, she held onto the banisters and literally pulled herself up the stairs. For a second she felt dizzy and thought that she might throw up, she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. No Sameen Shaw doesn't throw up! She had to uphold a reputation afterall. She pushed herself up the last two steps and a long corridor with 5 rooms appeared.

The doors were all closed, for a second she wondered if maybe Root was just going to the bathroom. Whatever if Root didn't want to get disturbed in the rest room she should lock the door. 

Shaw stumbled through the corridor, not having the banisters with her any more made it a bit more difficult. She opened the first door. A bathroom, empty and dark, so Root didn't go to the bathroom. She went to the second door, but before her hand could even reach for the knob she heard moans coming from the inside, so she staggered to the door at the end of the hall. 

Pushing the door open she was standing inside a study. There was a huge book shelve on the back wall, and in the middle was a desk, and behind the desktop she could see Root peaking out.

She looked like a deer caught in the headlights, as she put her arms up to her chest. 

“Shaw? ….What are you doing here?” Root asked, shock still evident in her voice.

“Could ask you the same thing?” Shaw slurred back.

Root rolled her eyes, typing something on the keyboard ignoring Shaw … again.. .

“If you plan on staying can you at least lock the door?”  
Shaw squinted her eyes at Root in suspicion, but she was to drunk to thing about it, so she walked over and locked the door.

“Sooo, you and Martine huh?” Shaw asked, stumbling over to Root.

“What about it?”

“Nothing.. Just…Why are you avoiding me?” She asked, not able to hold the words back.

Root looked up again, Shaw was something close to hurting and she was sure it was showing, but the damn alcohol made her feel to paralyzed to do anything about it.

“Sam.. I didn't...” Root was interrupted, as her eyes stopped at the turning doorknob. 

“Shit…. Nooo im not finished..,” Root started to mumble to herself, before stepping closer to Shaw.

“Don't kill me for this!” Root pleaded quickly, before her fingers burrowed into Shaws shirt, nails scratching roughly against Shaws skin as the hacker threw her forcefully forward, pressing their bodies together, causing Shaw to slam into Root. She could her the thud from Roots body colliding with the desk behind her, as Root pulled her in even closer roughly pressing their lips together. Shaw gave a rare surprised gasp in response, as Root leaned back, pulling Shaw with her.

Shaws dazed mind took a moment to comprehend what was happening, she felt her breath get stuck, and a shiver went through her as Roots lips touched hers.  
She could feel a hand behind her head, deepening the kiss while a arm snacked around her waist pulling her impossibly closer.

There was a scalding fire surging between them as the door swung open, revealing Mark, who looked shocked back at them. Root broke the kiss, she at least had the decency to act like she was sorry, as a blush crept up her face. Shaw could see Root reaching for something behind her.

“Oh god… im so sorry .. I thought I had locked this room, ...You.. Ah, This room is of limits guys sorry.”

Root smiled at him red faced, before walking past him, muttering a quick “sorry”.

Shaw was left dumbstruck, had Root just used her to get out of breaking into this room? In no way was she letting her get away with this. She felt like she had sobered up in seconds, as he rushed after Root, catching her in the middle of the stairs, she yanked her back, pressing her arm into Roots throat, cutting off her air supply.  
Shaws eyes were furious;“You pull something like that again.. And I will end you!” Shaw spat out angry, before pushing away from Root and leaving the party.

\---

Shaw took the last beer bottle out of the fridge, opened it and dropped down on her chair. She should have just grabbed Thomas and dragged him home. Shaw sighed angrily, taking a handful of chips and stuffing them in her mouth. 

There was a light knock on her door, guessing that if it would have been Zoe and John they hadn't bothered to knock, she ignored it, stuffing another hand of chips in her mouth.

Nevertheless, the door opened and Root entered. Shaw looked her up and down, Roots clothes were drenched from the rain, water droplets were running down her face from her wet hair.  
Her teeth were chattering, she shivered and had her arms crossed in front of her to keep some of the warmth.

“What do you want Root?” Shaw asked annoyed.

The hacker closed the door behind her and ran her hands up and down her own arms, either because she was to cold or because she felt uncomfortable, Shaw wasn't sure.

“Can.. Can we talk?”  
Shaw tensed up, visually showing her displeasure towards the prospect of more talking.

“Okay… or I do the talking and you do the listening?” 

Shaw rolled her eyes, but nodded, taking another sip of her bottle. Seeing that Root eyed the beer bottle with interest she said; “I would offer you one but since your ass came here uninvited, im not required to be hospitable.. so say what you came here to say and get out.”

“This wasn't supposed to happened.”Root started, shacking her head. Shaw watched her, the hacker look frustrated and uncomfortable, for some reason it pleased Shaw slightly.

“I had plans.. you know… the night you came over...” 

“Root.. I don't want to talk about this...” Shaw interrupted before the hacker could say anything else. She knew what Root was going to say, she felt mentally stuck, she didn't want to talk about that night, because even thinking about it, she couldn't explain why she had stayed. She didn't understand it herself and she didn't trust her drunken self to hold this kind of conversation.  
Shaw got up from the chair and took another gulp from the bottle. 

“Oookay.. lets talk about Thomas then...” 

Shaw was confused, what the hell had Thomas to do with any of this? She frowned and slowly shook her head.

“What about Thomas? … Lets talk about you and Martine...” Shaw shot back angrily.

Root looked a bit taken aback at Shaws reply: “Me and Martine? Shaw.. I think you have the wrong idea...”

“Yea or what you did in Nathan Ingram's office, were you kissed me to get out of trouble… you ever pull something like that again and...”

“Wait you think I kissed you to get out of trouble because I broke into his office? I mean.. Yes I sorta did, but also I figures since I wouldn't get that opportunity to do it anymore anyway, I went for it.”

Shaw swallowed hard, as she finally came to the realization of what was going on with Root.

“Wait… you have been dodging me all week, because you were embarrassed that you had a stupid nightmare?”

“What else did you think this was about?… wait you were jealous of Martine!” Root concluded, a knowing smile suddenly appearing on her face.

Shaw didn't like were this conversation was going at all, the look in Roots eyes making her feel uncomfortable.  
“Root...” Shaw warned.

“Oh my god you...”

“Root..”

“I didn't think you...”

“Samantha!”

Root snapped out of her rambling as she heard her name, she visibly flinched and Shaw could have sworn she heard the brunettes breath hitch. Root looked back at Shaw, her eyes turned to eyes and the smile was gone.

“Don't call me that!” 

The harsh tone in her voice caused goosebumps to creep up Shaws arms, for the first time she saw an angry Root and for some reason she was kind of turned on by that.

“Im not her anymore...” the hacker said softer this time. Root looked down on the ground again, not able to look into Shaws eyes anymore.  
Shaw was well aware that she had struck a nerve, she walked over to her and handed her the beer bottle, before she grabbed a towel from on of her drawers and also handing it to Root.

Roots eyes were already red and Shaw could tell that she was holding back tears that threatened to fall. The hacker took a generous gulp from the bottle, before wiping at her drenched hair and wet face with the towel.

Shaw moved back to her desk, leaning on it as she carefully watched Root.  
Root gulped down the rest of the beer, and but the bottle down. She suddenly smirked, as if Shaw had never said her name, she wiped the towel over her neck for a last time, before putting it down.

“So you weren't jealous of Martine?” the brunette smirked.

Shaw raised an eyebrow at her:” Noo.” 

“And you didn't like kissing me?” Root asked her voice slightly hoarse.

“No!” Shaw said again, feeling slightly unnerved.

“You sure about that?” Root asked, walking slowly over towards Shaw.

The hacker stopped just in front of her. Shaw didn't even realize that she wasn't breathing anymore, there was a tingle walking up her legs and arms towards her chest, that distracted her. 

“Hmm, thats a shame… maybe I can try again?” Root voice was barely more than a whisper, as she leaned in, slowly closing the distance between them, giving Shaw still the chance to back out if she wanted to. Sameen wanted to pull away, but the alcohol made her feel paralyzed or at least she thought it was the alcohol. She grabbed the edge of the desk, her knuckles white, as Roots lips captured hers.

Shaw could feel a rush of energy and adrenalin coming from the base of her spine, evolving her like a blanket. It took Shaw a few seconds to relax and return the kiss, her insides felt like they were on fire as Root ran her tongue across Shaws lip requesting access which she gladly granted. 

The unusual and extraordinary sensations dazed her mind going blank, drowning in euphoria and the very pleasurable feelings - maybe thats why people like kissing? Shaw was sure it had never felt like this before.

Shaw gasped when teeth bite down onto her lower lip, and droplets of blood welled up, for a second she pulled back, tasting the iron. She licked over her lips, looking back at Roots shit eating grin.

She could see that the hacker was about to say something, as she felt something inside her snap, she roughly grabbed Roots wet hair and crashed their lips back together. Roots arms encircled her neck, pulling them closer, as Shaws hand ran through Roots hair, deepening the kiss once more.

Root moaned into Shaws mouth, killing the last piece of restrain she had on herself, as her hands traveled to the brunettes tights and lifted Root ontop of the desk.

Root legs wrapped around her midriff, pulling her closer. Her blood felt like it was boiling, but not from anger this time. She could feel Roots hands snacking under her shirts as nails racked down her back. The body heat exuded was immediately felt by Shaw, as she gave a quick and thorough grope of a breast to keep the brunette dazed, she was rewarded with a rebellious moan.

Their tongues tangled in a delicious war, as Shaw tried to get her hand under Roots wet shirt that stuck desperately to her skin.

They both jumped as the door was pushed open by Zoe and John entangled in on another, crashing into the next wall.

Zoe opened her eyes first, pushing John away as all four of them stared at each other uncomfortable. Awkward silence filled the room, Johns face was red as a Tomato and Shaw just looked angry. Zoe was definitely amused as her eyes looked between the two women, taking in Shaws shirt that had some wet spots from Roots completely drenched body, there was no way to get out of this for Shaw. Her eyes settle on Root for a moment who still looked a bit dazed.

“Not a thing, huh?” Zoe spoke finally with a knowing smirk.

Shaw rolled her eyes annoyed, as another moment of awkward silence lingered in the room.

“See you tomorrow?” Root asked Shaw, before walking out of the room. Shaw eyes followed her confused for a second.  
Shaw wanted to stop her, and bring her back, but she would not give that satisfaction to Zoe, so she just gathered her clothes and went for a very cold shower. Hoping that John also had the decency to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im not completely happy about this chapter, but i still hope you like/enjoyed reading it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending contains some violence.. you have been warned

It was Sameens third day of working as a volunteer premed in the ER and it was safe to say that she was beyond exhausted, not from the work, but from the people she had to deal with everyday.  
“Makes you wonder why I ever chose to do this..” she sighed, as she left the hospital.

She had spent the last 2 hours with a 56year old woman, who had fallen out of a window from the 2nd floor of a building. Shaw had to stitch her up, after she had fished the copious amounts of glass out of her wounds on her head, arms and stomach while the woman went from excessive crying to sobbing, to talking like a waterfall and last but not least questioning Sam on everything that involved her life, before she tried to play match maker for her son who was in the end of his thirties.

At least the woman wasn't as bad as the 70 year old man who claimed he did not know how the cucumber had gotten “up there”… before he started telling sexist jokes and tried to grab her ass, he was lucky that he only ended up with one broken finger. 

When Shaw had left the hospital it was already dark outside, she pulled her jacket tighter around herself, before crossing her arms, it was freezing and the snow covered already an inch of the ground. The cold crept up her back, leaving goosebumps in its wake. 

The snow quieted down the noise of the usual loud city, masking the sounds of the cars on the streets and the people walking on the sidewalks. Shaw walked passed the usual coffee shops, peering inside, just out of habit more than curiosity. The windows were steamed, and Shaw could see people sitting inside, talking and enjoying themselves, as her eyes drifted over a familiar figure at the coffee counter. Shaw mouth dropped open, she squinted as she did a double take, her eyes racked over the womans black high-heels, to very long, pale legs, that seemed to go on forever, taking in a black trenchcoat hanging open, slightly hiding the womans black dress that showed of the womans perfect curves, red lipstick covering her lips, stopping at the brunettes hair that was put up in an elegant bun.

Root looked good, all business like, but Shaw decided she preferred the jeans, leather jacket look. Sameen started to wonder what the brunette was doing here... looking like that and to Shaws displeasure Martine moved into view, next to Root. She was holding a coffee mug in her hands as she she led Root back outside the coffee shop. 

Shaw turned quickly away, acting like she was walking the other way, but neither of the two woman seemed to pay any attention to her. Without thinking about it, her legs moved on their own accord and followed the two woman down the street. Shaw could see Roots smile, eyes glowing with something, all directed towards Martine and Sameen couldn't stand it. Why was she even following them? Martine laughed, and Shaw wondered with annoyance what the hell they were talking about. Sameen glared, hating the snow for muffling their conversation.

Her breath got stuck on its way out as Shaw came to a realization, that they were on a date? She blinked confused for a second, no it couldn't be. And as on cue they stopped as a guy had walked up to them and Martines hand traveled to her back, lifting her coat up.

Shaw could see her hand wrap over the bud of a gun, before letting go again, pushing the jacket back over it. Both of the women exchanged looks for a second, and walked on. Shaw knew that she probably shouldn't get involved in whatever they were doing, but she would not let the opportunity to kill Martine slip and she would also not let Martine kill Root, even if that would save her a lot of troubles.

Shaw stuffed her fists further into her jacket pocket, her nails digging inside her skin, focusing on the pain instead on the weird feelings building up inside of her. She never meant to get this involved, she doesn't do people, and yet here she finds herself again, running after Root, like a pathetic little puppy. Shaw knew that she had always been different, she knew it and people usually kept reminding her of it. 

She never cared much for other people, never cared of what they think or do, she liked herself like that, she never knew herself any other way, but with Root storming into her life everything changed and she didn't like it one bit. She didn't understand the feelings she started to experience and couldn't sort them into categories. 

Why had she let Root kiss her? Why did she have to drink so much, why didn't she stop her? Those things inside her were already hard to suppress but now, after kissing her, they were impossible. The only thing that kept her mind away from Root was working. Shaws thoughts were interrupted as Root and Martine entered a Restaurant, she stopped outside, watching them from the outside. They sat down on a table at the far end, an older man, with white short hair, in a black suit was already seated there, greeting them both as they sat down opposite him.

Sameen suddenly felt nauseous, watching them interact, the warm smile that crossed Roots face, she had to close her eyes and looked away. What was she even doing here? She felt like she was invading a private moment, she shook her head and walked away. 

She knew even without someone telling her that she was incapable of loving or feeling other things, she was good at anger but that was about it. She was a sociopath, incapable of caring and feeling for others, even though Root had proofed this theory wrong, she wasn't convinced, maybe this was just like a freak of nature, nothing changed. She was probably just attracted to Roots looks, the moment she would sleep with her she would loose interest. That was probably it. For a second she found herself wondering if Root was okay with that, maybe it would be enough for her. Shaw shook her head, deciding that she shouldn't waist even more of Roots time, she walked up the street rounding the corner, wrapping her arms further around herself. All warmth had left her body, her nose red and cold, she could see the air leaving her body. Suddenly she felt a vibration coming from the back of her jeans pocket, she reached for her phone and looked down on it.

/ Shaw? Got a job, one night 200$ interested? / - Hersh

A smile creped up her face, she couldn't have asked for a better timing, she unlocked her phone.

/ Absolutely! /

/ Tomorrow meet me 11pm, same place as always! / - Hersh

\---

Shaw hadn't slept all night, somehow this was becoming a regular occurrence and she couldn't explain it to herself. Maybe she just needed a rush again, anger and adrenalin always seemed to relax her, which made her giddy only thinking about tonight. She didn't know what Hersh needed her for, but Shaw didn't care she just needed to get out there again. 

She had met Hersh as a senior in High school, he took on jobs that weren't necessarily labelled as legal, most of them involved breaking into someone’s apartment and gather data or something a client wanted, sometimes it involved breaking into cooperations and stealing information. That was mostly the part were Shaw came in. She had some skills in hand to hand combat and knew how to handle a gun. Hersh had taught her the last part as he also had caught on to the fact that she was a sociopath, which made her the perfect partner, because the job sometimes involved having to kill someone.

When the night slowly came, she could feel the excitement go through her, she put on black pants black shirt and black jacket, with combat boots, stuffing the black sky mask inside her back pocket. She made sure no one saw her as she left.  
Each step she came closer to the meeting place, the tremor in her hands increased, feeling the excitement of what they were doing tonight rushed through her body. 

Two black cars were parked in the lot, in front of them Hersh, Grice and a blond woman were already waiting for her.  
Hersh gave her a slight smile, looking her up and down.

“Well, you look like shit!…” 

Shaw raised and eyebrow at him;” Thats rich coming from you!”

He smiled at her, walking over and putting a hand on her shoulder; “You ever need someone to talk, thats what the counselors are for...” 

Shaw shrugged his hand off, giving him an annoyed eye roll.

“What do we got?”

“Dude hired us to break into someones office, we need to open the safe and extract some data from his laptop...” Grice answered.

“And the building is secured by policemen… thats were we come in… easy money Shaw!” Hersh finished.

“Who’s office?”

“Less you know the better! Lets get going!” Hersh answered quickly.

“We do this like we always do and we get out without any casualties” Hersh continued, giving them all pink ear pieces and handing a suitcase to the blond. 

 

\----  
Shaw had taken out the second round of guards, “I need another 4 mintues guys..” 

Shaw sighed, looking down at her watch, they were already in far to long, she grabbed the gun tighter as she moved further into the next room.

It was dark, besides the emergency lights and the led lights illuminating the floor under her. She moved carefully along, when she suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her eyes. 

The next second, someone was shooting at her, and her body dropped to the floor on pure instinct. She looked around and rushed behind a office desk to take cover. She peeked out of her hiding spot, aiming the gun at the black figure, and shot. Shots were fired back and she pushed herself back against the desk. Ok, whoever is shooting at her had two guns and probably more than one magazine like she did. 

She stopped, counted to 5 before slowly and quietly rushing over to the next desk, the person was walking towards her. She felt her heart pumping in her chest, as the adrenalin was rushing through her blood stream, her pupils dilated into blackness as she felt the person walked up next to her. Sameen had to smile, the person didn't see her. She ran into the person full force, wrapping her arms around the opponents waist, both of them crashed to the ground hard, as the weapons dropped to the ground with a clatter.

She punched her attacker in the face, as she felt knees pressing into her stomach kicking her off. Shaw fell backwards onto the floor and they both got up, now facing one another without weapons.  
As Shaws eyes assess the situation, taking in her attacker, her eyes drifted over a familiar attire, those pants, this leather jacket, the mask… tall, skinny body… this was without a doubt the hacker from Finchs office!

She felt a rush of adrenalin and excitement go though her, she missed this. She let herself be fueled with rage, she was going to make this woman pay and if it was the last thing she would do. 

As soon as her attacker had gotten up on her feet, she charged at Shaw, left hand striking out, Shaw was quick to block off her attack, seeing the womans right arm strike out right after, she caught her hand in her left, twisting it and pushing it down and punching the womans elbow and another strike followed, fist colliding with the her attackers face.

The hacker recovered quickly, catching Shaws next strike, moving inside the space between them, closing the distance, as her elbow collided with Shaws jaw, a hand snacked behind her neck, pulling her down, in a second the woman had stepped back, forcing Shaw to bend down towards her attacker, as the womans tight kicked her chest twice, pushing all air out of her lungs. Shaw brought up her arms to defend the next strike, but suddenly the woman grabbed the back of her mask, a fists buried inside Sameens hair and pushed her down to the ground. Shaw took a deep breath as she fell face forward onto the floor. Her arms pressed forward, catching the rest of the fall, as an angry groan escaped her.

This was not what she had expected and this stupid mask was making it even harder to concentrate on her attacker, hands suddenly groped her shirt, roughly turning her around, as the woman pushed one knee against her chest and fingers closed around her throat restricting her from breathing.

Shaw grabbed the womans arms, causing the fingers to tighten even more around her throat, her body screamed for air, as she franticly looked around for something to use. Stars appeared in front of her eyes, making her feel dizzy, another rush of adrenalin rushed through her and she used all the strength that she had left and punched against the womans throat, before using her whole body to push her off. Taking in a deep breath of air, she got up, bringing her elbow down on the womans face hard, as her attack fell back to the ground. Shaw stumbled back gasping for air again, pulling the mask back into position, ignoring the pain.

The woman recovered fast, as she charged Sameen again, but this time she wasn't fast enough, Shaw dodged her attacks with ease, she caught the womans fists, sidestepping her and using her elbow as it collided with the womans chest with aloud thud, another punch into her stomach, before pushing her fingers inside the womans jeans pocket and shoulder, she shoved her against one of the office desks, which broke in two as it collided with the womans slim body, with the force of the impact.

Both women panted heavily, taking in deep breath, then the hacker came at her again, she ducked the first of Shaws punches, dodging the other one, as she stepped on Shaws leg, climbing easily up on Shaw, bringing an arm around Sameens throat and coming to a stand behind her. Shaw found herself in a headlock, using her attackers heigh difference against her, she pushed up, and backwards. The woman collided with on of the office desk and as she tried to catch her breath, Shaw grabbed the collar of her jacket and with a quick move the positions were switched. Shaw had the woman in a headlock, using all her might to squeeze, the woman jerked around in front of her and Shaw stumbled, both falling to the ground, but Shaw didn't stop to squeeze, only when there wasn't even more then a twitch coming from the woman on top of her, she let go, kicking her attacker roughly off of her. She laid on the ground panting heavy, desperately trying to get oxygen back inside her lungs. She could feel a warm liquid slowly run down her arms, she touched it with her finger and looked at it. Blood. Inspecting her arm, she could see a cut on her arm. 

“Shaw? We need to get out of here police are on their way … lets go!” 

Shaw jumped at the sudden voice in her ear and as on cue she could hear sirens. With another deep breath she got up and gathered her weapon, as she looked back at the unconscious figure in front of her. She wanted to make her suffer, inflict pain, this woman would have killed her without a second thought, just like Shaw would have killed her. Somehow it made Shaw even more angry, as she slowly took aim at the womans head, her fingers glided slowly, but steady over the trigger.

It would be so easy just to press her finger down and end this womans life. She took a step closer to her, she decided that she wanted to look at her, when she would end her life, so she bent down and grabbed the womans mask, feeling the hair under it, she closed her fists and pulled at the mask forcefully.

Suddenly there was a tightness in her chest, feeling sick to her stomach, her breath hitched, as she looked down at the womans bloody face.

 

“Root..?” Shaw breathed out in utter shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the nice comments, this chapter is kinda short ill make it up to u guys in the next one ,)


	7. Chapter 7

“Root..?” Shaw whispered in utter shock.

She was frozen in place, her whole body made out of ice, as she stared down at Roots unconscious form. What had she done? What the hell was Root even doing here? This wasn’t supposed to happen! This woman was not supposed to be Root!

“Shaw where the hell are you, you need to get out, NOW.” Shaw jumped at the sudden voice in her ear.

“...Shaw?”

Sameen swallowed hard to relive the dryness in her mouth, the room suddenly illuminated with blue and red lights, coming in from the outside of the windows. The sirens now closer, than the muffled sounds she had heard seconds ago. Shaw pulled the mask covering her face off, rushing over to one of the windows, she peered outside. Police cars had pulled up and armed officers were making their way inside the building.

“There is something I have to take care of.” 

She pulled the earpiece out, dropped it on the ground and crushed it under her boot. Shaw proceeded to grab both of Roots guns and secured them inside her waistband, before rushed over to Roots unconscious body. 

She quickly bend down, and lifted Root up in her arms and made her way out.

\---

Shaw had no idea how she had made her way out of the building, while carrying Root undetected. She knew that Root would probably be alright, but she wouldn't risk it, not her, not Root. 

So she made her way to the next hospital, the snow had gotten worse, and she could feel that the temperatures had dropped below zero. Goosebumps had covered most of her skin, but Shaw could barely feel the cold, as she pushed her way down the street of New York with Root in her arms. The hacker was surprisingly light in her arms, or maybe it was just the adrenalin, that still ran though her system, she didn't let her thoughts linger. 

Sameen got rid of their weapons, dropping them in the next bushes, before she pushed though the doors of the hospital ER. The nurses came rushing over to them, the second they had spotted Shaw with the unconscious brunette in her arms. One of the male nurses lifted Root in his arms, taking her away from Shaw, and laid her down on one of the emergency beds nearby, he then drove her away in one of the medical rooms.

Shaw followed them inside the room and one of the nurses pulled out a pair of scissors and started to cut Roots shirt off, while the other connected her to the monitor. Shaw felt weird standing there watching, not being able to do something.

“Ms?” one of the nurses came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder and led her out of the room. Sameen brushed her hand off angrily, her eyes deadly on the woman. The nurse looked very young, Shaw figured that she was probably still learning. The woman swallowed hard, before she looked away uncomfortably.

“Uh.. you probably have been through a lot, but I need you to answer some questions, can you do that?” the woman asked clearing her throat in obvious discomfort.

Shaw raised an eyebrow at the woman, remembering that a ’normal’ person would probably be in some sort of shock, while she was just beyond angry at Root. She rolled her eyes, but nodded non the less. 

“Can you explain to me what happened to you and your friend?”

Shaw squinted at the young woman, she couldn't exactly tell her that they had broken into an office building, taken out a couple police officers -and who the hell else Root had taken out before they started smashing each others skulls in.

”We.. uh... We were attacked out on the streets.” 

The woman wrote something down on her sheet and nodded encouragingly at Shaw. Sameen had to suppressed an eye roll and looked around for Root again, but to no success, they had closed the blinds from her room.

“Whats your friends name?”

There was that word again, friend… Shaw didn't do friends and Root was most definitely not a friend of hers. She wanted to grab that womans blond pony tail and give it a nice pull.

“Her name is Root”

“I need her full name please.”

Samantha… the last time she had used that name it had made Root angry.. upset, whatever it had made her feel, it had effected her and not in a good way. 

“Uh.. Sam.. Samantha Groves” she answered after a moment.

“Alright, ill check the system for her, in the meantime, do you want to file a report?”

“No.. its fine.” Shaw stated, giving the woman a look that would sent a shiver down a grown mans back. 

One of the older nurses had watched them and had made her way over towards them, sending the younger woman away, while handing Shaw a clipboard with a piece of paper on it.

“We need you to sign this form please, just a formality.”

Shaw took the piece of paper from the woman, her eyes scanned quickly over the words, but they didn't register. She took the pen from the woman and as the pen touched the paper and drew out the S of her name, she realized that this was probably not the best idea, giving up her name like that, so she finished the S with an arah Green, it wasn't perfect but the first thing she could think of. The nurse already waited impatiently drumming her fingers on her arm waiting for Shaw to finish. 

She handed it back to the woman who looked down at it skeptically, before chewing obnoxiously on her gum.

”Alright, you can take a seat over there, and a doctor will take a look at you shortly.”

“I'm fine” Shaw waved her off and walked over to the seats the woman had pointed out to her.

Shaw had a perfect view of Roots room from here, well would have if she could look inside. She leaned back with a deep sighed and looked around. Shaw caught her gaze in the mirror, she starred back at herself. Bruises covered her throat, and blood was smeared under her nose. Her hair was disheveled, the rings under her bloodshot eyes bigger than ever. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to forget that she had almost killed Root. She took a deep breath, as she felt eyes on her. 

“Sorry.. Ms Groves has two emergency contacts listed, Ms Rousseau and a Mr Greer, is there someone she would prefer us to call?” the young nurse from earlier questioned Sameen like she had all the answers.

Shaws brows furrowed in confusion, Martine? Why was Martine one of Roots emergency contacts, and who the hell is this Mr Greer? What about her parents, why weren't they listed? When she realized that the woman was still waiting for an answer, she looked up.

“Ah… Mr Greer.” 

The nurse nodded and trotted away, behind the counter and typed something into the computer.  
Shaw was left alone once again, sitting there awkwardly not really knowing why she was still there. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, the smell of aseptic filled her nose, it felt familiar and somehow calming.

Thinking back, nothing had made sense, why did Root brake into Mr. Finches office and why had she been there tonight? What the hell was Root doing when Shaw did not cross her path? Was she doing this every night? Was this why Root had always fallen asleep in class, because she was to busy breaking in somewhere and doing who knows what?

Shaws thoughts were interrupted, as one of the nurses inside Roots room pulled the blinds away, giving her a view inside the room. Shaw watched the nurse as she gave Root a once over, before her eyes drifted back to the monitor, she nodded to herself and then left the room.

“Ms, you may go inside now.” The nurse from Roots room said, as she walked back behind the counter and sat down in front of one of the computers.

Shaw stood up and walked towards the brunettes room, she stopped in front of the window and peered inside. She couldn't bring herself to go in, not after what she had almost done. This was weird, she had killed someone before, and back then, she had felt nothing, it hadn't freaked her out, she even had gotten a rush out of it, the guy was bad and had deserved nothing less, but with Root this was different, very different.

Her eyes scanned the room first and something heavy lifted from her chest, when she heard the heart monitor beeping in a normal rhythm, she was ok. Root was alive and her vitals were stable, for now this was all Shaw needed to know. She led out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Root lay in the bed, her eyes shut, her hair wet from the snow and partly crusted with blood. Her face was covered in bruises of varying colors, ranging from raging blue to green and red. She had a cut over her left eye, that someone from the doctors had already stitched up, another small cut on her bottom lip. Her arms were positioned above the covers and Shaw could see that they had put her in a hositalgown. 

 

It had been almost 3 hours until someone had finally showed up for Root. Shaw looked up, she recognized the man as the one that had met with Martine and Root the other day in the restaurant.

He had only caught Shaws eyes because of the expensive black suit he was wearing, it distinctly stood out on the white walls of the hospital. Shaw watched him walk up to the counter, where he started to talk with one of the nurses. It wasn't long, until one of the doctors joined their conversation and led him inside Roots room. They talked for a moment and Shaw watched him closely. Who was that man, he didn't look concerned at all, in fact he didn't even bother to look at Root as he talked to the doctor. After the doctor left, the man in the suit pulled out his phone he type something, before putting it back inside his jacket pocket, then he left, without even sparring Root one glance.

Shaw wondered again who that man was to Root, and why he had been one of her emergency contacts. She was sure that this man wasn't Roots father, he looked more like a rich dude who would buy himself a secret island lair and hire someone to twirl his non existent mustache, then care about Root.  
Shaw was still sitting outside the room and couldn't bring herself to go inside, she couldn't go in there and look at Root. Look at what she had done to her. But she also couldn't leave Root alone in here, so she slowly sagged down on her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

Shaw was slowly getting more tired by the minute, her eyelids were getting heavier and she decided to go and stretch her legs for a moment. She found herself going for the hospital cafeteria and ordered a cup of coffee and an energy bar. On her way back, she stopped at the restroom, splashing some water in her face, she looked at herself in the mirror. The bruises glowed even more blue and red than they had a couple hours ago. Looking at them, she still could feel that womans strong fingers pressing down on her throat… Roots fingers.

She wiped the rest of the blood from her face, inspecting her nose, thankfully it wasn't broken. She had refused the doctors to take a look at her, she didn't need someone telling her what she already knew and nor could she afford it.

When Shaw walked back to Roots room, she could see 3 boys standing around her bed. One boy, he had dark hair and looked asian, Shaw had never seen him before, he had sat down next to Root. He stroked a strand of hair from her face, which caused Shaw to roll her eyes in annoyance. He then precoded to intertwined his fingers with Roots. Shaw felt even more pissed off by this, but knowing that someone was there for her, and cared, which those boys obviously did, made her feel more at ease.

One of the boys had turned around, and their eyes locked for a second, Shaw recognized him, his name was Daniel, one of Roots computer nerds. Shaw looked quickly away, suddenly feeling lost, she decided to go home. 

\---

 

Shaw was standing in the bathroom with a whiskey bottle in her right hand. She took a long swig of the whiskey and relished in the sensation it left as it burned down her throat.

Shaw shrugged out of her jacket, tossing it somewhere behind her and pulled off her shirt. She checked her bruises in the mirror, they looked nasty, but they would heal, her right rips were covered in varying blue colors. She let her fingers run over them, she winced when she pressed down to hard. Her fingers ran up her arm and she only now noticed that it wasn't a cut like she had thought, one of the bullets had sliced over her skin, barely touching her. She couldn't believe that she hadn't felt the impact of it, she took another sip from the whiskey, before pouring some over the wound.

Shaw could only imagine what Roots body must look like, if hers was already looking like that.  
She swallowed, feeling pain and the stiffness of her throat, she brought her fingers up, looking at the bruising Root had left there. No make up in the world would cover up that bruise. She sighed and pulled her shirt back on.

Shaw went back to her room, she rummaged through one of her drawers and pulled out the emergency kit. She opened it and took out some gauze, put it on her wound and secured it with tape. She was to tired to do more, so she let herself drop down in her bed, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

\---

After about thirty minutes of bouncing around a punching bag, throwing jabs and kicks, Shaw stopped her workout as a familiar voice ringed in her ear.

“What did that bag ever do to you?”

Shaw turned and looked Root up and down. Her left eye had a dark blue bruise covering it and her eyebrow had stitches. Her bottom lip had a cut,but other then that she looked fine, well at least the parts of Roots body she could see.

“Shouldn't you be at the hospital?” Shaw asked monotonously.

“Probably..” Root smirked back.

Shaw didn't say anything this time, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an angry eyebrow at Root.

“I don't particularly like hospitals…” Root clarified scratching her neck.

“Root... what are you doing here? Shaw asked with an angry sigh.

“Zoe said I would find you here”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah… Sameen I came because I need to know something...”

Root walked closer, coming to a stop only inches away from Shaw.

“Sameen?” Root whispers, as she brought her hands up towards Shaws throat. Shaw had decided that it was best to cover up the bruise by wearing a scarf, escaping unwanted questions and all.

Shaw defiantly starred back into Roots eyes. Root slowly pulled the scarf covering Shaws throat away, taking in a deep breath, as she looked at the bruises there.

“Im sorry!” Root breathed out, her voice barely above a whisper. The world around them quieted, as she felt Roots delicate fingers run over the bruises she had left there.

“You knew?” Shaw asked angry, stepping away from Root.

Root shook her head, her arms dropped back down to her sides, still holding Shaw's scarf.

“No.. only after I woke up in the hospital and Daniel said he saw you.. I just figured… well I guess here is my proof”

Shaw grabbed the scarf back angrily and put it back on.

“What the hell were you doing there last night Root?”

“Not here Sameen!”

Shaw sighed annoyed, giving her a ’where then’ look.  
Root grabbed a hold of Shaws arm, “Come on.”

Root led Shaw inside her room, closing the door after them. Shaw walked to the middle of the room, crossing her arms, raising her eyebrows at Root.

“You weren't supposed to be there last night.” Root answered with a simple shrug of her shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Last night was a set up, for the guy who hired you… I thought his team would be the one to show up, not your people!”

Shaw was lost, had she missed some part of the conversation because this didn't make any sense.

“What do you know about the guy who hired you?”

“Hersh?” 

“No Sweety, not Hersh… Peter Collier.”

Shaw had to suppress another eye roll, “Never heard that name before..”

The grin on Roots face faltered, she looked unimpressed.

“We were hired by an anonymous source… and Hersh usually doesn't tell us much… you know plausible deniability and all. Look Root I was there because I like the job and I need the money, but whats your excuse?”

“My mom told me to follow my talents and Im good at what I do... I found something very, very interesting, I came for answers”

“Why are you telling me this?”

The smirk on the brunettes faced brightened again, “I might need your help Sam.”

“We crossed paths before you know..”

“Are you talking about Finchs office?”

“Oh… yes so you know it was me?”

Shaw glared angrily back at Root, taking a step closer to the brunette.

“Yea sorry about the tasing and you know… tying you to a chair part.” Root chuckled.

“You knew who I was and you still tasered me?” Shaw asked outraged.

“You know in my defence… you did seem to like it.” the brunette smirked back.

Shaw felt her hands ball into fists, as warmth crept up her back. Was Root even listening to herself?

“I know you’re probably a little upset..”

“Yeah, not exactly the adjective I’d use...” Sameen said through gritted teeth.“

“Sameen there is no need to be … “

Shaws fist collided with Roots jaw, and before the hackers legs could give out Shaw grabbed the collar of Roots shirt and shoved her up against the wooden door. Shaws eyes were flashing with rage, dark and dangerous, almost feral, not that it would scare Root, somehow nothing Shaw did ever scared her. Root let out a huff when her back collided with the closed door.   
Root raised an questioning eyebrow at Shaw, as she smirked back at the other woman, which was supremely bothersome. 

“You hurt me, I hurt you. I'm just a little more efficient.” Shaw gritted through her teeth. 

Suddenly she felt Roots fingers in her hair, yanking her head forward. Shaw tightened her grip on Roots shirt, nails angrily scratched down on the brunettes chest, leaving red streaks behind.

Shaw wasn't sure how it had happened, but one second she was most definitely fighting with Root and the next second Roots lips were ravishing hers. The hacker kissed her roughly and Shaw felt like their fight had shifted to their mouths and returned the kiss as hard as she could.

Their tongues were at war, tangling and trashing in a way that would make a nun faint. The heat between them expanded, flushing their cheeks and necks. Shaw felt like all of the tension between them had caused things to get heated so quickly, -they had been dancing around this for to long.

Root caught Sameens bottom lip with her teeth, nipping until blood had formed on her sensitive skin. Shaw let out a low growl, she had no idea when kissing someone became a way of letting out your anger towards them, but she did just that and Root was slammed back against the door for a second time. Shaws hormones had been screaming at her for weeks and she let go of the tight leash she had on her self-control. She brought her hands around the hackers jeans, hooking her fingers into the belt loops and roughly pulled Roots body further into hers. 

Root’s nails scraped Shaw’s scalp, trailing through the length of her dark hair, tugging harshly. The dark haired woman suppressed a groan and led her knee slip between the hackers legs, rubbing against her center. Root let out a rebellious moan, her hands wondered under Shaws black tank top and Shaw slapped her hand away. Root slapped her back, but Shaw managed to grab a hold on her wrist, the brunette reached out with her other hand, pushing up Sameens top and shoving her hands underneath, Root grabbed the other womans breast, kneading it ravenously. 

This is a bad idea, her mind kept telling her, but her body could not care less. Not when she was overwhelmed with arousal as Roots hands traveled her body

Shaws hands traveled up Roots torso, grabbing her as roughly as the hacker had grabbed her. Root winced slightly and flipped their positions expertly, pressing her body further into Sameens. Root grabbed Shaws wrists and pinned them against the wall, just above Shaws head.

Root left a trail of kisses down Sameens jawline to her neck, until she found her pulse point, sucking hard, before biting viciously. Feeling the brunettes hot breath on her skin, Shaw began to squirm beneath Root, her lips working against the tender flesh of her neck.

Shaw ripped her hands free from Roots hold and pulled the womans mouth back to her hungry lips.   
Shaw felt a warm tongue invading her mouth and their tongues furiously fought for dominance again. Root pressed her to the wall, arms on either side of Shaws head, pushing her body further into Shaws.

Sameen felt like she was loosing this fight, so she switched their positions again, slamming Root violently into the wall. The brunette moaned out in pain and pleasure which set of some sort animalistic pleasure in Shaw as she let loose another low growl. For some reason every fiber of her body wanted to be near Root, she lifted the hacker up by her tights, slamming her against the wall yet another time. Root let out a satisfied grunt and wrapped her legs around Shaws waist in approval.

Roots moans were caught in the back of her throat as she threw her arms around Shaws neck, holding her tight like she was a form of oxygen support.

The kiss was electric, tongues sliding together in a perfect rhythm, as Shaw arched her body closer, desperate for more contact. Shaw grabbed the hackers hips tighter and palmed her breasts eagerly. Shaws kisses moved down the brunettes neck and stopped to suck on her pulse point

“Sameen… “ Root groaned out breathlessly as she pulled back for a moment to yank off Shaws top. Normally Shaw would've bristled and growled angrily at that voice, but now a shiver trailed down her spine at the way her name was spoken.

When the heat became unbearable, Shaw clawed at the brunettes top, wanting the offensive material disposed off, so she could soak in much needed skin-to-skin contact, but Root wouldn't lift her arms.

“Root?” Shaw growled out angrily.

“Sweety I can’t...” Root answered sounding hoarse and frustrated.

Shaw pulled away slightly, looking up at Root, raising a questioning eyebrow at the brunette. They had gone to far to back out now.

Root rolled her eyes in frustration, lifting up her shirt. Her torso was covered in dark blue bruises and Shaw was sure she had some broken rips too.

“I cant lift my arms...” Root murmured back with a shrug, attacking Shaws lips again. Shaws eyes were wide open now, as her hands traveled softly over the bruising on Roots skin. 

Irritated she tried to find the brunette gaze, she looked at the ever constant smirk on the other females face, why did she always have to be so annoying.. and yet so beautiful

“Don’t worry about it Sameen!” Root moaned out scratching her fingernails up and down Shaws spine, eliciting a quiet moan from Shaw.

A deft hand snaked under her shirt and began kneading her breasts. Shaw latched her mouth on Roots own, tongues gliding frantically against each other, the room was filled with heavy breathing, moaning and wet kissing noises.

Shaws breath quickened when she felt Roots hands travel down, fumbling with her pants.   
The pressure was building between her legs, she arched her back, adjusted her stance, so Root could get her hands inside. She inhaled a deep breath, as she felt Roots hand slipping past her already damp underwear and ran her fingers down Shaws slick folds.

“Oh my god you’re so wet Sameen.” Root whispered biting Shaws neck.

Shaw gasped as she felt Roots hands touch her, her hips rocked forward while her legs parted further, eyes blown wide with desire. Shaw had lost all reservations and cautiousness by now, she just wanted to feel Root, feel her everywhere she grabbed onto Roots shirt, ripping it apart.

“Well that makes two shirts in one day...” Root chuckled.

“You talk to much!” Shaw groaned out, stepping back with Root still wrapped around her waist. In that moment Roots fingers entered her and her legs trembled, she lost her footing and they crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs. 

Root moved so that she was laid flat on Shaws body, her upper body slightly elevated to give room for Shaws roaming hands. Shaw couldn't resist grinding herself against the other woman, as Root entered her with a third finger.

Shaw failed to suppress her shudder, or the curl of throbbing heat that came undone in her stomach. She gasped when teeth bit down onto her lower lip and blood welled up.

Shaw didn't hesitate as she dragged her hand up and shoved it unceremoniously into Roots underwear. She entered the hacker abruptly, plunging her pointer into the hackers depths, making Root cry out. 

Root was tight, so tight. Her muscles clenched down on Shaws fingers mercilessly, even though she was sopping wet Shaw had troubles building up a steady rhythm.

“And you say Im wet..” Shaw breathed out into Root ear.

Roots squirmed above her, mixed with her moans made it even more delectable and gratifying, sucking on the brunettes lower lip, as Shaw wiggled her fingers, rubbing along Roots sensitive inner walls. Teeth and lips moved together desperately. Both women writhe against each other in completely frenzied.

Root arched her back and dug her nails into the exposed skin of Shaws shoulder blades, as Shaw entered her with two fingers. She curled her digits moaning in ecstasy while Roots wetness coated them.

Each movement of their bodies acted in sync and made them quickly climb the imaginary ladder to nirvana, their tongues going all out of supremacy over the other and their lips constantly met in long almost melding numbness.

They both began to shudder, muscles unraveling and tensing again. Shaw could feel Roots walls tightening around her fingers. Shaw felt herself nearing a orgasm as well. Sameen was roughly thrusting into the hacker, her eyes never leaving her face, as wave after wave of pleasure filled both women. Shaw had to press her lips hard against Roots, just to stop her from screaming, until they collapse against each other, sweating and breathing hard.  
-  
Shaw looked up, when she felt one of Roots slender finger drawing out a nameless pattern on her neck.

“I think you blacked out there for a second.” Root smirked, as she leaned her head back down against Shaws chest. 

Shaw had to suppress an eye roll at that, she dropped her head back onto the ground. Her breathing was slowing down again, she could feel Roots finger still draw out a pattern on her bruised throat, she lost herself in the sensation, as her eyes closed for the second time and she fell right back asleep.

The next time she woke up she could feel a heavy weight on her chest. Shaw opened her eyes, it had gotten dark and the air around her had gotten a lot colder than before. Brunette hair tickled her chin, she looked up and realized that Root was sleeping soundly on her chest.

How was this happening again? Shaw didn't do after-sex-cuddling! And especially not after-sex-sharing-a-bed! But here she was yet again, arms slung around a sleeping Root on top of her. 

Her thoughts were interrupted as Root shifted, smacking her lips together as she looked up at her. Shaw had to admit that the ’after-sex’ look suited her.

“You know… it only would have been two steps to my bed?” Root chuckled out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry that it has been so long, but I finally found some time to write another chapter, its kinda short but I hope you guys still like it...

“For the last time Zoe! Root and I are NOT a thing!” Shaw said angry, balling her hands into fists.

Shaw was pissed, Zoe had caught Root and her making out at 3:00am in the hallway. It had all been Roots fault! If she had let Shaw go when she had wanted to none of all this would have happened and she would not have to deal with Zoe right now.

“Sure Shaw!” Zoe scoffed.

“We were just...” Shaw tried again.

“Yeah you definitely were just… I think you were mutually swapping spit, don't insult my intelligence!” Zoe said grinning brightly and sipping on her coffee.

“Why cant you just admit that you have the hots for her… a blind man can see your feelings for… .”

Shaws face contorted into a look of pure disgust.  
“Let me be perfectly clear, I know places where people would never find your body!”

Zoe just laughed Sameens threat off but waved her hands in defeat. 

“For whatever its worth, I think you guys would make a cute couple.” Zoe grinned.

“Oh and by the way Iris dropped of your psychology book yesterday, talking about a test, if that Root girl is getting in the way of your studying we going to have a serious talk!” Zoe said before storming off.

Oh shit how could she forget? Shaw growled angrily and dropped down on her chair. With a deep sighed she grabbed the book and pulled her green folder onto her desk. Shaw opened the folder looking though it until she found the piece of paper she was looking for.  
“Psychology Test #3 pages 350 – 612 definitions, causes, diagnosis, forms...” she started to read out loud. 

This was going to take all day and night, she walked back to the coffee can and poured herself some steaming dark liquid before sitting back down and starting to write everything of importance down.

After 3 hours of writing she stopped at something that sounded familiar. 

“Axis II Personality Disorders …. Antisocial personality disorder F.60.2 …“ she read out loud.

She had heard or read of this before but she couldn't remember where she had read it. 

“It is characterized by at least three of the following criteria… 1. Callous unconcern for the feelings of others, 2. Gross and persistent attitude of irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules, and obligations, 3. Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships, though having difficulty in establishing them, 4. very low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression, including violence, 5 Incapacity to experience guilt or to profit from experience, particularly punishment, 6.Marked readiness to blame others or offer plausible rationalizations for the behaviour that has brought the person into conflict with society... ...”

Now she remembered where she had read this before, after her father had died her mother had sent her to a therapist, she had a couple of sessions but her mother had pulled her out after two weeks or so. She had never said why and Shaw had never complaint. She had found a piece of paper in the trash with the exact same words that she had now just read out loud, the only difference was now they made sense.

Her brow furrowed as she scanned the rest of the page in front of her.

“… this diagnosis includes ’amoral, antisocial, asocial, psychopathic, and sociopathic personality...’, ...characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for, or violation of, the rights of others. An impoverished moral sense or conscience is often apparent, as well as a history of crime, legal problems, and/or impulsive and aggressive behaviour...

Shaw didn't need to go on to understand why the therapist had given her mother that letter, or why her mother had thrown it out. He had basically told her on a piece of paper after a span of a week from counselling Sameen, that her daughters problem wasn't coping, no that she was infect a psychopath, even if it was the truth it still was a hard pill for her mom to swallow.

If Sameen was being honest with herself she had always known that she was different, but it never really had been a big deal for her, maybe that was also a part of the disorder.

When her dad had died, of course she had missed him. She had missed the piggyback rides at bedtime or the stories they made up before she sleeping. He always had made her the best sandwiches for school and she had missed secretly watching MMA fighting with her dad while her mom wasn't at home, but when he was gone she had moved on, there was no pain or sorrow.

Shaw started to read the page over again, paying extra attention to the parts that fitted her perfectly. There was a sudden knock on the door and Shaw was pulled out of her 5 read though of the page, she looked up, but didn't call out, she thought back at the days after her fathers death, how everybody had tried to get a reaction from her, thinking this was some way of her coping, until her aunt had suggested to her mom to go see a therapist, that Sameen was obviously not dealing in a good and healing way, that she was instead “bottling up and isolating” herself.

“Sameen..?” Root asked, slowly entering the room.

A smile started to cross Roots face upon seeing Shaw, she held up a brown paper bag, waving it in front of Shaw, who only now seemed to come out of her trance.

“Did someone order take out with a side of sexy brunette?” Root smiled that mischievous up-to-no-good smirk.

Shaw blinked at the brown bag, closing her psychology book, she got up and walked over to the still smirking brunette.

Shaw raised an eyebrow at the hacker; “ Ill take the takeout, for the last part, try the dude two doors to the left.” Shaw answered, grabbing the bag and letting herself drop down on the chair again.

Root pouted, closing the door and entering the room; “Thats a shame, cuz your way hotter.”

Root strode towards Shaw, rudely stealing herself some of Shaws fries before she let herself drop down onto Shaws bed. Sameen glared at her, pushing the fries back into the bag, shielding them effectively from the hacker.

While Shaw ravished her burger, Root watched her with adoring eyes, until Sameen couldn't take it anymore, glaring back at the brunette; “What?” she asked with a full mouth.

“Just admiring the view, Sameen!”

Shaw rolled her eyes annoyed, taking another bite from her burger.

“I still have a lot to do, so what do you want Root?”

Roots smirk widened again as she walked towards Shaw, letting herself drop down onto her lap bringing an arm around Sameens shoulders and pulling her in for a deep kiss. 

It took Shaw slightly by surprise, she swallowed the last bit of the burger, before Roots tongue started to invade her mouth. Her arms encircled Roots waist, pulling her even closer.

How was this even possible, even after she slept with Root, this woman still managed to get onto her nerves, her body still buzzed just thinking about Root. This wasn't normal, Shaw thought now that she had slept with Root, the excitement would go away, the interest would shift to something else, but this woman invaded her, she slowly crept into her life without Shaw noticing, until it was to late. 

Roots cold long fingers slowly drifted towards her chest, but before Root was able to push Shaws bra away, she was shoved off of Shaws lap, landing on the hard ground.

“Well that wasn't very nice..!” Root started to pout.

“I don't have time for this Root.” Shaw answered, shifting her attention back onto the psychology book.

Root wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She frowned, looking at the caller id.

“Sorry Sam gotta go!” Root said distracted, looking at the message on her phone, while leaving the dorm.

Shaw rolled her eyes again, trying to focus back on the words on the page in front of her. Shaw kept reading the same sentence over and over again, not able to pick anything up from it, her mind going back to Root. Root liked her, Root has feelings for her, but what could she say, yes she was attracted to Root and yes Root made her feel things that she didn't usually or ever really felt, Root got on her nerves, Root made her wake up at night, sweating with hands down her pants, thinking about Root, what she was doing, who she was with, if she would get herself into trouble again. It scared her and it confused her to no end why Root had that effect on her. She only knew one thing, that she would never be able to love Root, like Root would love her. She couldn't do that to Root, she could never be that someone that Root would want, maybe she hasn't lost interest yet, but sooner or later it would happen, so why not end this whole 'thing' now when it wasn't to late.

Maybe because she was selfish, Root was hot, interesting, dangerous and a damn good fuck, what did she care if she got hurt, Root is a big girl who can take care of herself. But she did care, that was the whole problem. 

Shaw sighed, running her hands through her hair, slamming the book shut. She wondered when the last time was that she thought about someone else's feelings, it was probably right before ..never!


	9. Chapter 9

Shaw was sitting in her first class, finishing of a paper, when someone sat down next to her. She didn't need to look up to know it was Root. Root really wasn't a morning person, but since the day that they first had ended up fucking somehow, she managed to actually stay awake in class and look fairly rested. She was eating an apple, grinning at Shaw and handing her a brown bag.

“Whats that?” Shaw questioned with an raised eyebrow.

Root just smirked at her, taking another bite of the apple, making herself comfortable in the hard wooden chair. Shaw opened the bag, pulling out a wrapped sandwich. With a smirk she unwrapped it, taking a huge bite.

When she had finished the sandwich she noticed that Root had actually brought a book to class and not like usual only her bag pack with tons of energy cans and her coffee mug.  
She reached out, taking the book and read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys, but before she was able to turn it around and read the backside, it was yanked out of her grip.

Shaw raised another eyebrow at that;   
“Its not mine and I cant have you smearing it with sauce!” the hacker smiled, storing it inside her bag.

Shaw rolled her eyes annoyed, starting to pay attention to the professor for once and not Root.  
It didn't take long for Root to shuffle closer, Shaw could feel Roots legs lightly touch hers, she looked up to find Root acting all innocent and also actually paying attention to class, but Shaw would be a fool to believe that, Root was playing on of her games. It didnt take long until she could feel the brunettes arm resting next to hers, brushing her own. Her jaw clenched and she pulled her arm away, it was only a small move, but she could feel Roots mood change, the smirk had vanished and was replaced by a straight face forward to class. 

Shit she needed to make Root understand, to tell her that the thing they were doing wasn't what she wanted. Well she did want it but this made everything more complicated and Shaw didn't like complicated. She wasn't a relationship person and nobody including Root was going to change that. The only way she knew how to get rid of Root was to close off, to shut her out. Her body ached and all the thoughts she had were making it hard to focus, somehow the page from her psychology book had burned itself in her eyelids, … this diagnosis includes ’amoral, antisocial, asocial, psychopathic, and sociopathic personality… incapable of caring for others … Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships… . Shaw was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on her wrist.

“Sameen are you okay?” Root questioned, brows furrowed.

Shaw let out a breath, pulling her hand away from Roots.

“Yea Sure!” she answered, and the professor announced the end of the class at the same time. Shaw closed her book, pinning it under her arm and leaving class, without another word to Root.

Somehow she had managed to dodge Root for the rest of the day, also the following week, every time Root had tried to talk to her or texted her she had rudely brushed her off, ignoring all of Roots attempts of contact.

\---

Shaw was sitting in her room, glaring down at the book in front of her, unable to focus on anything other than Zoe and Joss talking and laughing in the background.

Shaws phone was buzzing for the 4th time next to her, she tried to ignore it- only one person could be so relentless. Joss walked up to her quickly stealing Sameens phone and rushing back to Zoe.

“Why are you ignoring your girlfriend Shaw?” Joss joked smiling at Sameen and handed Zoe the phone.

“Trouble in paradise?” Zoe asked also grinning.

Shaw rolled her eyes, trying to reach for her phone in Zoes hand.

“Ha-ha.. not funny! And I don't do girlfriends!” Shaw said angrily, her hands balling into fists.

“Why what happened?” Zoe asked puzzled, as Shaw ripped her phone out of her hand.

“Nothing happened! We just had some fun and thats it!” Shaw shrugged, finally looking down at Roots text.

/- Hey Sweety! You busy? -  
/- Sameeeeen?  
/- Remember when I said that I might need your help?  
/- Two missed calls from Root.

Shaws brows furrowed, for a second she contemplated calling Root back.

“So you guys aren't 'friends' anymore?”

“We never were!” Shaw answered annoyed, throwing he phone on her bed.

“Is that why you have been extra cranky these days?”

“Im not cranky!” Shaw retorted harshly.

Joss and Zoe grinned, both raising their eyebrows at her giving her an 'are you serious' look.

“Even when you don't want to admit it, you guys were good for each other! You need people like her!” 

“Brash, rude, annoying and impulsive?”

“We're discussing Root and not you!” Zoe said laughing.

Shaw glared back, her jaw set, she didn't want to discuss this especially not with Zoe who spreads every bit of juicy news like herpes. Annoyed she put on her running shoes and left.

After her 2 hours run, she showered and put her pajamas on. When she walked back to her room her eyes drifted back to Roots door, there wasn't any light coming from it, indicating that Root wasn't back yet. She walked inside her room, looking for her phone, Root hadn't called again.

\----

Somehow Root had slipped back into old habits, she looked progressively worse, the bags under her eyes getting darker and bigger each day. Root started to miss classes again, and if she did show up she slept with the head on her desk. Another day had come and Root had showed up late for class again, she sat down next to Shaw, but keeping her distance. Sameen had watched her out of the corner of her eyes, when she lifted the coffee mug to her lips. Shaw could see her face contort into pain and she wondered what Root had been doing again. It hadn't taken long until the hacker had fallen asleep on the desk again, but this time Shaws eyes caught something behind Roots ear, looking closer she realized she had stitches.

After class, she went right for the gym, boxing the shit out of a punching-bag, until her arms were to tired. When she came back to her dorm Zoe had already been gone, there was only a pizza box left on the desk. Zoe had only eaten 2 slices, leaving the rest for Shaw. She ate the rest and started to study again. Her mind drifting back to Root, when suddenly her phone buzzed again, showing the caller id, why was Zoe calling her?

“Hey… Shaw?.. Im at the Heidis coffee shop… Its about Root!… Can you please come?”

Shaws heart was beating 200mph, she could feel a lump form in her throat as she swallowed hard, barely able to bring the words out.

“Is she okay?”

“Just.. get your ass over here!” Zoe breathed over the phone before hanging up.

\------

Shaw hadn't even bothered to put on a jacket, she had grabbed her keys and started to literally race down to the coffee shop. She came to a stop in front of Zoe who sat next to a shitfaced Root.  
Shaws eyes made a swift assessment of Root, who didn't seem to be injured. 

“Your hair is so soft!” Root said to Zoe, starring at her like she was some sort of angel.

Shaw raised an eyebrow at Zoe, crossing her arms. 

“I found her at a house party completely shitfaced, I don't know how many drinks she had but if I had to guess drinks weren't the only things she had… And Shaw.. When I wanted to bring her home she protested and for some reason she took of her shirt...and ..” Zoe stopped for a second visibly swallowing and contemplating about saying something.

“And?” Shaw pressed on.

Zoe starred at her for a second, then she looked back at Root, who was still playing with her hair, she lifted the brunettes shirt only slightly, but Shaw got the picture. Zoe had probably seen all the bruising of Roots that Shaw had inflicted even though she wondered why Root had barely healed yet.

“Shaw I don't know but she looks like she has some broken rips and if I wouldn't know better I think Root was shot in her shoulder before. What happened to her?”

Shaw starred at the both of them sitting on the cold stone floor, somehow feeling guilty of the state that Root was in right now.

“I don't know!” She half lied, walking to Roots side and bringing an arm around her waist to lift her into a standing position.

Root seemed to only now notice Shaws presents as a huge smile formed on her lips, before it dropped completely, looking horrified.

Zoe did the same as Shaw, and they started to drag Root back to their room, but they didn't get very far, as Root started to struggle against the two of them.

“Come on Root.”Shaw breathed out trying to pull Root forward.

But Root didn't obey, she shrugged her arm out of Shaws grasp and let herself drop down on the floor hard.

“Root what the fuck?” 

“Im not going anywhere with you!” the hacker answered shacking her head.

Zoe and Shaw shared a look, Zoe leaned down to Root, putting her hand on the hackers shoulder.

“Root… whats wrong?”

The brunette didn't answer, she just starred at nothing in particular and crossed her arms.  
Zoe gave Shaw a look, who rolled her eyes but she sat down next to Root, looking her over.  
Feeling completely uncomfortable with Zoe there and listening, she nervously scratched her neck.  
“Root, we should get back, before we all freeze to death!”

“Im not stopping you!” Root answered, not looking at Shaw.

Shaws brows furrowed, she looked to Zoe before trying again.

“Well im not leaving you here so… lets go!”

“Im just staying away like you wanted Sameen!”

Yes Shaw did want Root to stay away but not for things to be like this. She hated that she cared for Root why couldn't she just leave her, Root was being an idiot but then again who knows what she took, at least there was a 90% chance of Root not remembering this night, so she leaned closer to Root, trying to shut Zoe out. She nervously scratched her neck again.

“Please just lets go home!”

“Im not going anywhere until you tell me why!”

Shaw glared at Root, contemplating her options. She knew exactly what Root was talking about, but this wasn't the right time nor the right place, she looked over to Zoe before she took a deep breath looking anywhere but at the two women with her.

“Im not good for you... im a sociopath Root! I don't have feelings!” Her eyes settled on Roots this time.

Root slightly smiled at this,”Well you know what I do for a living… We are perfect for each other!”

Shaw smiled slightly at that, shaking her head,” Ok Root, let me get one thing straight … I don't do relationships!”

“Who said anything about a relationship sweety?” Root purred, unable to focus steadily on Shaws eyes.  
Zoe looked between the two of them shacking her head in disbelieve.

“Come on idiot!” Shaw said, pulling Root back on her feet. Zoe steadied the brunettes other side and they dragged her back to their room.

They dropped Root on Shaws bed, who immediately sat up straight, grabbing onto Shaw's arm to steady herself.

“Oh god! Oh god! Its to shaky … Oh god Sam make it stop!” Root said frantically. Zoe acted quickly grabbing the trashcan and handing it to Root right in time, as Root was a second away from puking on the floor.

Zoe petted Roots back with one hand, the other holding Roots hair. Thats when Shaw saw the stitches again, this time she leaned forward, brushing a finger over Roots wound.

“What happened?” Shaw asked getting slightly angry at Root for getting herself into trouble.

Root looked up at Shaw shrugging. 

“Root!”

“I can handle myself Sameen.” Root started to slur, hugging the trashcan tighter.

“Obviously...” Shaw said angrily pointing at the hackers wound again, but before she could go on she was interrupted by Root.

“What Shaw? You weren't there were you? Don't give me the rousing stiff upper lip speech.”

Zoes looked back and forth between the two women, “ I better leave you two, Ill stay at Johns if there is anything just give me a call Shaw!”

Zoe left, leaving Shaw alone with Root. Shaw grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to Root, but the hacker just started to empty her stomach again. Shaw wrinkled her nose in disgust and gathered some clothing for Root.

When she came back Root was sitting on the floor in front of her bed, the trashcan next to her.  
Shaw walked to Root, slowly touching the brunettes shoulders who looked up at her.

“Come here!” Shaw said, pulling Root to her feet. She pushed Roots hair back, putting it into a bun so it wasn't in the way again. 

“Can you lift your arms Root?” Shaw asked, but Root only starred at her, so Shaw pulled Roots shirt over her head and threw it into the corner, for a second she inspected Roots upper body. Root did look worse then the last time she had seen her. The bruises had barely healed and it looked like she had gotten new ones too. Shaw suddenly felt sick to her stomach, she shook her head, putting the new shirt over Roots head.   
She opened Roots jeans and to her surprise there was no stupid remark coming from the hacker, she only still starred at her. She helped Root put the new pants on, before leading her back to the bed and handing her the bottle of water again.

“Drink Root!” She ordered and the hacker did just that, but only small gulps. 

“Why?” 

Shaw was startled to hear Root speak again, so she raised an questioning eyebrow at her.  
But Root didn't say anything again, she just sat down on Shaws bed and leaned her back against the wall. Her eyes began to water but she refused to let tears fall. 

Shaw climbed on the bed taking a seat next to Root, trying to find words, she looked down at Roots hands.

“Since when are you taking drugs Root?”

The brunette took a deep breath, also looking at her hands, “ I don't!”

Shaw finally looked up at her, maybe Root hadn't only acted up because Shaw distanced herself from her maybe there was something else. She knew Root was fighting to keep the tears in, she also was surprised that she hadn't left yet, but then again Root probably felt to sick to actually be able to move herself to her own room. Looking at Root she guessed the horizontal probably wasn't doing it for the hacker right now either. She snacked an arm around Roots shoulder, gaining a surprised look.

“Its okay! Come here!” Shaw whispered.

Root didn't move, her shoulders tensed. Shaw rolled her eyes, pulling Root in. The brunette let her and slowly started to relax. The hackers head rested on Sameens shoulder, who pulled her in even more, allowing Root to be close. 

Shaw didn't know why she was doing this, it came out of nowhere and it somehow felt good to have Root back after weeks of not having her around. Even if she would never admit it she was glad that Root was there, right next to her. She could feel the warm breaths of the hacker on her neck and the brunettes hair slightly tickled her face, but for some reason she didn't dare to move away.

When Shaw thought that Root had finally fallen asleep, she could feel the hacker stir and look up.  
Shaw only slightly turned her head and look down at Root, who forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes, she still looked hurt and sad. Root turned her head, planting a light kiss on Shaws neck, before leaning her head back down and closing her eyes once again.

“Root?” Shaw whispered surprising herself. She could feel Root tense again and for a second she wasn't sure if Root was going say something at all, but then she hurt a shaky”Mmh?”

“What happened to you? Why did you take those pills?”

There was a long pause, so long that she wasn't sure if Root had actually fallen asleep, but then Roots started fiddling with her own hands, digging her nails into her own arm.

“Because I didn't save her!” Root answered in a low voice, so low that Shaw had almost missed it. “I didn't want to feel...”

Shaw looked down trying to see the brunettes face, who had her eyes tightly shut. Then her eyes drifted over Roots hands, the knuckles on her right hand had turned white, while her nails dug inside the skin of her left arm.  
“Stop!” Shaw said with a strong voice, her free hand sneaking over towards Roots, stopping her from hurting herself further. She intertwined their fingers much to her own surprise. Root looked up this time, eyes still red.

“Tell me.”

“When I was 12…” Root started, letting out a shaky breath, “I… my friend Hanna… We were...” Root shook her head, not able to go on she squirmed out of Shaws embrace, wanting to leave. When she pulled herself up on Shaws bed, she stumbled slightly only to be pulled back into Shaw, who pressed her close, dragging her back down onto the bed.

Root couldn't hold back anymore she turned her body towards Sameen and buried her face inside Shaws shoulder, “I tried to save her… “she started sobbing. “He killed her and went on like nothing happened… .”

Shaw wanted to make that guy pay for what he did, she pressed Root closer trying to make Root understand that it was okay for her to let go. Suddenly Root stopped shaking in her arms and she looked down at the hackers red face.

“I made him pay for what he did!”

Shaws brows furrowed for a second,”What do you mean?”

Root looked away again and Shaw pulled her back in, letting the brunette cuddle up to her again.

“He was just... bad code...”


	10. Chapter 10

Shaw woke up to the sound of loud rock music echoing through the dorm. She groaned and rolled onto her stomach, pulling the pillow over her head, to cover her ears from the racket.

After another couple of minutes had passed, she huffed in frustration,'Ugh! They couldn't be serious!' she felt like she had barely gotten 5 minutes of sleep. The pillow barely helped to drown out the music, so she turned a second time and made a grab for her phone. She pressed the home button and the phone light up showing that it was already 11am, her eyes went wide in disbelieve. She trashed around exasperatedly, unraveling herself from her sheets that she found herself completely entangled in. She hurled herself out of bed, looking around for her clothes.

“Fuck!….Fuck… Fuuu!” She yelled, taking her clothes off and grabbing a shirt from the floor, and a pair of jeans that to her surprise would not fit, so she pushed them down again, taking a fresh pair out of a drawer and grabbing her lab coat before she hurried over to the bathroom, brushing her teeth quickly and then pushed her hair up into a messy ponytail.

Shaw raced the whole way down to the hospital arriving just on time. One of the doctors pressed a chart into her hand announcing that she had to take care of the patients on the list today. Sameen looked down, scanning it quickly, most of the patience on the list were people who visited on a regular basis for a check up, only a couple new ones that needed stitches removed or blood taken.

Shaw was glad that it was a fairly easy day today, so she went over to the counter, purring herself some needed strong, black coffee. She leaned back against the counter, her eyes doing a quick sweep around. Most of the nurses were huddled together, talking animatedly with each other, complaining about some patients and talking about their problems at home. 

Shaw sipped on her coffee, catching a reflection of herself in the windows door opposite herself. Her brows furrowed as her gaze drifted downwards on herself, looking at the very tight fitting red t-shirt she was wearing. Sameen Shaw did not own a red shirt. Perplexed she pulled the hem of the shirt down and looked at it closely, rubbing the fabric between her thumb and index finger. This was not hers, it was Roots. Why the hell was she wearing … . Now she remembered, Root had been with her last night.

Thinking back to this morning Root had definitely not been in her bed. Where had she gone? Why had she left at all? Rolling her eyes at herself for even thinking such a stupid thoughts, she took another sip of her coffee, before scanning the list for her first patient. 

The problem was that her mind would not obey her and drifted back to Root, wondering why Root had left her clothes back at Shaws room. For a second she contemplated to give Root a quick call to make sure that she was ok and not doing something stupid again, but giving that a second thought, Root does whatever Root wants to do, she rolled her eyes again, a slight smirk appeared on her lips, before she picked up her chart and walked into the first medical room meeting her first patient.

\- --- -

Shaw had worked for 4 hours sighing she crossed off the next patient, checking the list, there were only 3 patients left.

“Kelly Dyson, rm stitches, Marla Krüger rm stitches, Daniel Crane x-ray results… .” she read out loud.

Easy and fast she smiled to herself, turning the first page around, checking for her next patients file. But Kelly Dysons file was pretty much empty besides the side note that she needed her stitched removed. Annoyed she shook her head about the lack of information on this woman. Still looking and turning the pages over she entered the room, where the woman was already waiting for her. Suddenly Shaw could feel the air change, confused she looked up into uncomfortable and surprised brown eyes. 

“Root? …What are you doing here?” Shaws asked, crossing her arms.

Root seemed as surprised at seeing Shaw as she did seeing the hacker. Roots mouth was slightly open, mind racing she searched for an answer, but before Root could say anything Shaw had figured it out.

“So Ms Dyson...” Shaw said with raised eyebrows, her arms still crossed.

“Are you finally going to explain to me what happened?”

Root shuffled uncomfortable back and forth on her chair, her fingers unconsciously going to the stitches behind her ear.

“Careful Sweety, someone might think you care.” Root tried to smirk, lacking the usual playfulness.

Sameen uncrossed her arms, throwing her chart on the table, taking a seat on the chair opposite Root.  
“Im your doctor Root… Im payed to care...” She answered flatly not making eye contact.  
“… Let me take a look.” She pushed her chair next to Roots, brushing the brunettes hair out of her way to take a look at the stitches. She tried to ignore the goosebumps that crawled down Roots neck and the shudder the hacker had failed to suppress when her fingers touched the brunette. 

Shaw pushed her chair back again, writing something down on her chart, before looking up at Root.

“The stitches look good, the skin around is normal.. They don't need to be removed they dissolve after a couple days so you don't have to come in here again.”

Shaw looked up at Root, for some reason she wondered what happened to the perky psycho she usually was met with. Root looked uncomfortable and still so pale. 'I don't particularly like hospitals…' Roots voice rang in the back of her mind. Shaw looked closer at the hacker, the effects of last night probably still hanging over her. The hackers eyes were burning red and still unsteady and her hands still had a slight tremor in them. 

“Sameen….” Root started but was interrupted by a nurse that opened the door.

“Mr Crane is back from the X-ray.” the nurse said, before disappearing again.

Shaw stood up and picked up her chart, when she turned she saw Root struggling to get up and stay on both feet, without having something to hold onto. Shaw hurried over to Root and pushed her back down onto the chair.

“Ah okay, you wait here… I only have two more patients... ill take you home!” Shaw ordered, closing the chart and then she left the room.

She finished of the last 2 patients and signed off, walking back to the examine room she had left Root in. But Root wasn't there anymore, annoyed she looked around and also checked the rest rooms but she found everything empty, there was no sight of Root. 

Annoyed she left the hospital, walking by the smoking area, to see a brunette sitting there, head leaning against a wall, her eyes closed and she was shivering, her arms encircling herself as an attempt to keep warm or maybe she was looking for comfort.

Shaw sat down next to her, looking straight forward, waiting for Root to explain herself.

After a while Shaw asked, “Why didn't you wait inside?” 

Root slowly opened her eyes, looking back at Shaw, her hands subconsciously balling into fists.

“I don't like hospitals… I couldn't wait in there… .”

Shaw waited for Root to go on, to explain herself further, when she realized that Root was done she leaned her head against the wall as well, focusing on something in the distance.

“I always like them… “Shaw started to say, “the smell of antiseptics and the white walls, the beeping of the monitors its a constant battle… its.. its kind of calming.”

She only now noticed that Root was starring at her, she looked away quickly clearing her throat before getting up.

“We should go!”

Root nodded, pushing herself up and walking on wobbling legs, Shaw watched her for a second before bringing an arm around her waist, steadying the hacker. Root looked up at Shaw searching for approval to put an arm around Shaws shoulder.  
Sameen nodded, and the brunette brought her arm around her shoulders, leaning slightly against Shaw. After a couple minutes Shaw was sure that Root wouldn't be able to make it all the way back so she called a cap to drive them back to the campus.

–

Shaw guided the brunette back inside her room, helping her get into her bed. She pushed the covers over Root before making a leave. Her hand was just turning the door knob before she heard Root whisper.

“Please stay!”  
Shaw looked back at Root who now was sitting on the bed hugging her knees, looking everywhere but at Sameen. Shaw contemplated she wanted to leave, she wanted to run away as fast as she could but seeing Root broken and barely able to stand up right something kept her from running and her feet moved on their own accord back to Roots bed. 

She crawled into the brunettes bed, lying herself down next to the hacker, who thankfully kept her distance. Root rolled onto her side, her back turned towards Shaw who was lying next to her uncomfortable not really knowing what to do, which seemed to be happening alot lately.

“It was my mom...” a shaking voice whispered after a while.

Shaw looked back at Root, starring at the back of the brunettes head, her face hidden from Shaws view.

“She spent the remaining 8 months of her life in a hospital… they said they would save her… if I hel… I did everything they sai… and they.. they didn't save her!… All those things you find calming… they remind me of her and how I failed to save her, too… “ Roots voice broke at the last parts and Shaw was barely able to pick them up. What was Root even saying? What did that even mean? How could she have prevented her mother from dying? Shaw could feel a lump form in her throat, and something felt weird inside her chest, but before Shaws thoughts could linger and she got to ask anything, Roots whole body started to shake again.

Root kept her back towards Shaw not expecting her to do something, or say something. It somehow reminded Shaw of her mom, how she had always tried to hide her tears from her. When she had caught her mom crying at night, she crawled into her bed, her mom used to hug her tightly and tell her that everything was going to be alright. Shaw never liked it, the closeness, the unsureness of what to do or say, but just the fact that she was there always seemed to calm her mother and thats why she had always crawled back into her mothers bed, it always somehow helped her mother, even if Shaw never really understood it.

Slowly Shaw turned onto her side towards the hacker, she lifted her hand, putting it on Roots exposed arm. She could feel Root tense for a second before relaxing again. Roots skin was burning under her hand, after a moment she wasn't sure if Root had fallen asleep, needing air, she removed her hand again, pressing herself up, but before she was able to swing her legs out of the bed, Root had turned around, black painted nails dug angrily into the collar of her shirt,pulling her down and suddenly red lips roughly crashed into hers. 

Sameen could feel Roots arm encircling her neck as she was roughly pulled forward, but before her mind could catch up with what was happening her body was pressed against Roots, legs intertwined, the hackers hips started to grind seductively against Shaw, while the hackers hand slipped under the hem of her shirt, nails racking harshly down the side of her neck down her back, leaving angry red streaks in their wake. Shaw grabbed Roots waist, pulling her impossibly closer, as a shiver ran down her spine at the ferocity of the kiss. Roots fingers pressed into her ribs, her thumb running under the rise of her chest, before pushing her bra away, squeezing and kneaded her breasts, Shaw started to moan, not able to contain it.

Even when she hated to admit it, Shaw had missed being so close to Root. To touch her, to feel her, to smell her, she knew that Root felt the same way, just by the way her nails desperately dug into her skin, clinging onto her.

Shaw could feel Roots fingers slowly making their way towards her pants, another moan escaped her mouth. She pushed her hips up, trying to give Root a better access to her pants, the dull throbbing, becoming an obvious ache. Her fingers started to dig into Roots skin, the hackers mouth opened and Shaw took the opportunity to invade it with her tongue. Root groaned into the kiss, her hand slipping into Shaws pants. Shaw gasped, closing her eyes tightly, waiting for Root to touch her. 

She inhaled sharply as Roots hand cupped her between her legs, sending another wave of heat through Shaws core. She had no idea how Root managed to keep having that effect on her. Suddenly she tasted salt on Roots lips, opening her eyes she could see that Root was crying again. She brought a hand to the hackers face, wiping away the tears with her thumb, tying to lean back wanting to look at her. Not wanting Shaw to see her, face red and wet from the tears, Root pressed forward again, trying to push Sameen down into the mattress, starting to kiss Shaw more rougher than before, prying her lips open and shoving her tongue inside harshly. 

“Root..? Root wait a second, why are yo...!” Shaw tried to lean away from the hacker.

“Please Sam.. this doesn't have to mean anything..!” the hacker breathed out, her lips tickling the side of Shaws ear. She could feel her heart beating faster – pounding- in her ears. The same feeling as being in a headlock and not getting out in time formed inside her. No matter what would happen Root always meant something even if she didn't want it and even tried to fight it, it always did, thats why she found herself staying with Root in a situation like this in the first place. If it had been anybody else she would have been 200 miles away by now and not desperately trying to comfort them.

Roots fingers began to pull the fabric away, inch by inch, Shaw knew that she should stop this now, 'but oh shit…', Root was pressing kisses to her neck and without a warning two slender fingers plunged into her, making her cry out in pleasure, '..this felt way to good to stop now..'   
Shaws hips jerked towards Root, as she bit down on her own lip as Root repeated the motion, only now also pressing her thumb against her clit. 

Suddenly Root took her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down hard, there was that taste again. As much as she wanted she just couldn't ignore it. When Shaw opened her eyes again, she could see Root keeping her eyes tightly shut, still trying to hide her face from her.

“Root.. look at me...” Shaws sentence was cut off with a gasp as Root picked up the pace, causing her to cry out in pleasure. As Roots finger slid deeper, pushing, then dragging in and out, Shaw scrambled desperately for something to hold onto, but all there was was Root. She dug her nails into Roots shoulder, pressing her tightly against her chest. Then there was the hackers palm against her clit again, moving with the thrust of her fingers. Shaw began to see stars before her eyes and shuddered intensely, painfully aware of how close she was to come.

“Root..?” Shaw tried again after a moment, but this time the fingers between her legs stopped, before they were pulled out of her pants interiorly. 

Shaw looked at Root, half glad, half exasperated at the loss of the hackers fingers between her legs. This time Root looked at her, and the brunettes hand enclosed around her wrist and her hand was lead down into Roots pants. Root was already soaking wet  
“Please Sameen!… I need you!” Root whispered, roughly kissing Shaw again. 

Shaw looked at the hacker for a second, black painted nails dug into her skin, desperately pushing her hand against Roots center.  
“ Please Sam.. just make me come...” Root breathed into Shaws neck.

Shaw obeyed this time, her fingers pushed the panties out of their way and she plunged her middle finger deep into Root. With her free hand Shaw turned Roots face up, capturing her lips again. The hackers eyes closed again, moaning into her mouth.

Suddenly they both were engulfed in a beam of light coming from the corridor of the dorm and they heard someone enter the room.

“Oh… wow I hate to interrupt this...” Martine voice rang, echoing noisily in Shaws ears. Martine was biting her lip, as her eyes shamelessly traveled over the two women on the bed, “But...Its showtime, Root!”

Shaw looked confused from Martine to Root, not understanding what their conversation was about.  
But before she was able to ask Root, her hands where pulled out of the hackers pants and the warm body next to her, was entangling herself from Shaw.

Shaw looked at Root stumbling out of the bed, before coming to her aid and steadying the brunette.  
“Your not going anywhere Root!”

Root looked up at her, her face showing something that Shaw couldn't read.  
“Oh… Why Sam.. you never told me you had a girlfriend!” Martine chuckled.

Shaw glared back in disbelieve, taking a threatening step towards the blonde.  
“She is not going anywhere! She cant even stand on her own…!” Shaw hissed out, taking a protective step in front of Root.

“Lucky for her, I don't need her to stand… .”the blonde smiled crossing her arms in defiance.

Shaws eyes narrowed, her hands balling into fists getting ready for a fight when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back.

“Its okay Sameen!...” Shaw looked back at Root her brows furrowing. “See you tomorrow?” Root tried again, pushing her nails into Shaws shoulder, wanting to tell her something that could only mean that she wanted her to back off.

Shaw looked confused between Root and a smirking Martine, before she shook her head, mouthing a 'No way' to Root that Martine was unable to see.

Root tried to smile and failed horribly, taking a closer step to Shaw.  
"Trust me!" Root whispered, her nose brushing over her ear. Not liking this at all, Shaws jaw clenched but she nodded and took a step back, letting Root leave.

“Its okay.” She heard Root whisper as she pushed herself around Shaw, following Martine outside.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so I wanted to finish this chapter before 5x04 I hope you guys like … And oh my god im blaming all this on Chris and the entire POI cast !

It had been 4 days… yes 4 days since Root had left with Martine and the hacker hadn't even bothered to sent her as much as a beep. She would never admit it if someone asked her, but since the 2nd day of Root not checking in Shaw had started making rounds on the campus, passing every class on Roots schedule to make sure that Root had only forgotten to call her. She had even started to hold a look out for Martine but that turned out to be as unsuccessful as looking for Root.

Shaw had even talked Cole into tracing Roots phone, but he had also ended up empty. The hacker had basically vanished. Shaw had started to become restless, at night she wasn't able to sleep, her mind going over a thousand scenarios of what Root was doing or in what kind of trouble she had gotten herself into now. Not wanting to think, or deal with that weird feeling that had saddled in her stomach she started going to the gym more often, working out until she was to exhausted to do anything other than to fall into her bed, starring at her phone willing it to ring until she fell asleep.

By the time Wednesday rolled around Shaw found herself more than mentally and physically exhausted. She needed to get Root out of her mind this wasn't her, Shaw glanced at the phone lying next to her for probably the 7th time since she had sat down on her bed. Shaw tried desperately to focus back on the book she was supposed to read for class, but it was almost impossible to focus on anything.

A vibration next to her made her jump, she had her phone in her hands in a second, curious eyes burning into the screen as disappointment washed over her, before it was replaced by pure anger.

/- STOP starring at your phone and just call her already! - Zoe 

Her jaw clenched tightly as she looked up at a sheepish looking Zoe. 

“Seriously Shaw, I don't know whats going on between you two, but if you don't text or call her now, I will!” Zoe said serious, pushing herself of her bed, walking over to Shaw.

Shaw sighed, if it only would be that easy. She rolled her eyes, opening the screen.

/- Root! 

Was all she was able to text, angry at herself and at Zoe to let her influence her like this, she threw the phone away from herself. She put on her running clothes and went to run for 8 miles, before returning to her dorm. She went for a quick shower and dropped into her bed. It was already 1 in the morning when suddenly she felt a vibration next to her, pulling her from her slumber. Growling she turned around reaching for her phone only to look down and see that Root had texted back.

She was sitting upright within a second, she was more awake in that moment than she was since that last week. She unlocked her phone screen, her heart drumming rapidly in her chest.

/- Sorry Sweety was in a dead zone, im alright.. sweet dreams! Root

If Shaw thought that the drumming in her chest could not increase she was dead wrong.  
She was furious about the lack of information and something else that she couldn't put a finger on.  
After the days they have had, after the days that Shaw had worrying about Root, not that she would ever admit it out loud, but that was all Root had to say? 

She threw her phone at the floor, hearing the distinct breaking sound it made when it crashed on the ground, she angrily laid back down, shutting her eyes tightly. She wanted to punch things or shoot things, no matter what, she wanted to inflict pain. She trashed around angrily in her bed to awake to go back asleep now.

Shaw was glad, her three week vacation started today. After her last class was over, she quickly made her way to her car, trying to avoid having to talk with Zoe about why her phone was lying in shattered pieces on the their rooms floor. She drove home, staying with her mom while working in the hospital over the weeks between thanksgiving.

\----------------------------------------------------------

Shaw sat at the bar, steadily drinking herself into a quiet stupor, as she had realized that she had been stuck in the same routine for a week. Every night she went out, telling herself to go find someone, to forget about Root. But every time she entered the bar and sat down in her usual spot, she found herself rooted to the spot, not really wanting to take someone home anymore.

She didn't know why she did that, or why there was this hole in her stomach, that couldn't be filled with food. Since meeting Root, she felt like she had somehow changed, emotions that she had never felt and never thought were possible slowly showed themselves somehow and she was willing to do anything to silence them again, somehow alcohol helped with that. But not with the persistent itch in the back of her mind called Root.

Every day during her shift in the hospital, she told herself that today was the day that she would not look up if some random female stranger had ended up shot, or dead in the ERs around them, but she always ended up looking, letting out a breath of relive when she saw that no, there was no stranger, no woman shot or worse killed during a shooting or robbery or whatever the hell Root was doing these days.

Every night she was at the bar, telling herself that she was taking someone home, but in the end she went home alone, not even bothering to talk to other people, or try to pick anyone up and effectively shutting those ones down that actually dared to approach her. 

Shaw found her only comfort in the first hours of the morning, when she had more than a nice buzz and stumbled inside her room and dropped down on her bed, while her hands already made their way downwards into her pants, she shut her eyes tightly, picturing not her hands but more delicate pale ones instead that work her down there. She touched herself frantically, building up a good rhythm, mind wandering to Root and Shaw hated it, having to think of Roots body and her moans to get off. Her free hand reached up and palmed her right breast, squeezing it roughly, simultaneously squeezing her clit hard enough to see stars. Wantonly she moaned Roots name, her hips jerked into her hand, smearing her fingers, and palm with her cum as she came quick and cried out, making herself orgasm to the thought of Root between her legs, while crying out her name again in ecstasy. Falling instantly asleep after.

This night wasn't any different from the others, Shaw was back at her usual spot on the bar, the alcohol kept flowing, the moment her glass threatened to be empty.  
Shaw could already feel more than just a buzz, her fingers glided over the rim of the whiskey glass, creating shapes and designs by wiping away the condensation that had formed there.

Shaw was about drunk enough to make her way home, she chugged the last couple of gulps down, feeling the burning sensation of the alcohol slowly making its way down her throat, setting warm in her stomach.

She pushed the glass away, shaking her head at the barkeeper who was already making his way over to refill her glass. But when she wanted to push herself off the barstool, two curious hands wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her back into a thin body. Shaw was a second away of grabbing the strangers hands and twisting them behind their body, Shaws body was already going into defense mode, when lips suddenly tickled the side of her ear.

“Missed me?” Root whispered, hot air brushing over Sameens skin, making her shiver.

Shaw was frozen to the spot, her heart leaped to her throat, she closed her eyes, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, as one of Roots hands traveled higher, palming on of her breast, squeezing roughly, while pushing Shaws body back against the hackers.

“Hm, I really like the look, Sweety!” Root breathed out, planting delicate kisses on the side of Shaws neck, while her hands started to roam her body possessively and hungry.

Blaming her momentary stupor on the alcohol, Shaw whirled around angrily, twisting Roots hands roughly away from her body.

“What the fuck Root! Where have you bee...” Her words were interrupted by Roots mouth claiming Shaws in a bruising kiss. The hackers hands were suddenly in her hair roughly pulling and scratching her scalp, while her other arm snacked around Shaws neck bringing them impossibly closer. For even more effect the brunette started a full body grind against her, moaning loudly into the kiss.

Rationality had been left at the bottom of the whiskey glass in front of her and now she was pushed relentlessly by a tide of emotion and instinct, of need and longing that she had struggled against since Root had disappeared. Her hands grabbed Roots hips tightly, bringing them even closer together.

Somehow Roots tongue slipped inside of Shaws mouth and she had to say that, yes Root had a rather compelling argument. Root tasted like lime and tequila, salty and intoxicating. The liquid heat of Roots kiss sent Shaws pulse to pounding once more but now it beat thickly between her legs, which were suddenly not particularly steady. Even with the weight of the last two weeks, dangling over her head, everything seemed trivial in this moment, Shaw was to enveloped with relief of Root being alive and in one piece, being right here, pressed up against her.

Shaw started to bite Roots lip, making sure to draw blood, as she tried to prevent herself from moaning. Roots hissed, jerking her head away from Shaws, she brought a hand to her lip, wiping away the pool of blood that started to form.  
Shaw smirked at Root triumphantly, she had more than deserved this for letting Shaw hang and not calling her for 12 days when she told her she would. 

“Wanna dance?” Root asked suddenly, resting her forehead against Shaws.

“No.” Shaw answered immediately, rolling her eyes, wanting to take a step back, only to have Root obstructing her.

Shaw saw the mischievous smirk on Roots face, before she knew what Root was about to do, the hacker started dancing. The brunettes idea of dancing was much like the others on the dance floor, Root started to grind and rub against Shaw. The hackers leg started to move between her tights, as she pressed herself so close to Shaw that their breasts rubbed against each other. 

Shaw felt her body begin to react to the hackers movements, her hips rolled forward, in a way that made it difficult to think. Her hand wrapped around Roots waist, the other traveled under the hackers tight, pressing her down, increasing the pressure where she needed it most. Root started sucking on Shaws earlobe, making it all wet and dirty like her words winding into her brain.

“Sorry for leaving you hanging...” Root started to breath into her ear, “Let me make it up to you.”  
Apparently the good old Root was back at being her old self and Shaw was more than glad about that revelation.

Root pulled Shaw roughly back into a searing kiss full of passion, moving her knee up into Shaws crotch, hitting the perfect spot. Shaw knees buckled and her nails dug into Roots skin to hold herself steady. 

Shaw forgot everything that was happening around them, it was like they both were trapped in their little bubble, in which only Root and Shaw existed. Shaw could feel one of Roots hands slide under her shirt and pushed her bra up. Her fingers curled around Shaws breast and squeezed just hard enough to make Sameen whimper before tugging on her nipple and twisted. 

Shaws own hand traveled under Roots shirt, forcefully digging into pale skin. Shaw groaned into Roots mouth as she rode Roots thigh. Her panties were soaked by this point, needing some control over the situation, she pushed her right hand into Roots pants and found the hacker even wetter and wanting than herself. She had to suppress a smirk at that, she pushed the hackers panties out of the way, pulling back from Roots mouth to watch her expression as her fingers brushed over the brunettes clit. Roots eyes fluttered shut, biting her lip to contain the moan that threatened to escape, she buried her head inside the crook of Shaws neck.

“Wanna get out of here?” Shaws asked, voice was rough with lust.

“Thought you never ask...” Root answered hoarsely.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Shaw had no idea how they had made it back to her home. The were a tangled mess, roughly pushing each other into walls and furniture, making their way towards Shaws room.

With a loud thud Root slammed Shaw against the wall, pinning her there with her body. Root crashed their lips back together again, relentlessly grinding into her. Shaw moaned, pulling back and waisting no more time, ripping Roots shirt apart.

“This is like the 4th shirt you destroyed...” Root pouted.

“Shut up.” Shaw growled out, pushing the brunette back until the hackers calves hit the bed  
Frantically looking for something to hold onto, Root threw her arms around Shaw pulling her closer and down on the bed with her.

“Make me,” the hacker replied with another smirk, starting to bite Shaws neck.

Shaw had to suppress a eye roll, but a smile spread on her lips nonetheless. Sameens right hand slipped down between the hackers legs, when the tip of her fingers brushed her clit Root arched into her hand, when suddenly pale hands grabbed her wrist and stopped the movement.

Shaw looked confused down at Root, who leaned herself up on her elbows.  
“I have to pee!” 

“WHAT?” Shaws eyes widened in disbelieve, her voice was gravelly and thick with need. 

“Wait for me!” Root breathed, trying to wink at Shaw, which looked more like a blink with one eye closing slightly faster than the other, before pulling her body out under Shaws, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Shaw watched Root leave the room and her body dropped down back on the bed. Root was so going to pay for that! Shaw buried her face inside her pillow, feeling fatigue wash over her. She shouldn't have drunk so much alcohol. Shaw turned around, telling herself she would only rest her eyes for one second.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

Shaw was awoken to her mothers voice calling out to her. She sighed, burrowing her face deeper into her pillow and hoping the lack of oxygen might make her pass out so she wouldn’t have to deal with anything so early in the morning.

“Sameen Shaw!” her mothers voice rang again, this time more angry.

“Give me a second!” Shaw yelled back into the pillow frustrated, pushing herself of her bed, running a hand through her dark hair.

“Root!” Shaw groaned out, turning around to face the brunette next to her, only to find the spot empty.

Confused she looked around the room, where was Root? Had it all been a dream? No… No Root had been here last night, the smell of her still lingered in the air, she was okay, Root was alive she reminded herself again!

Annoyed she pulled a hoody over her head and walked out of her room only to be greeted by her mother, who had her arms crossed in front of her, raising an questioning eyebrow at Shaw.

When Shaw only narrowed her eyes in confusion, her mother nodded towards a sprawled out figure on the sofa. A smile unconsciously formed on her lips, when she saw that the sprawled out figure was Root.


	12. Chapter 12

Shaw looked at the hacker, who was lying asleep on the sofa, engulfed in a red blanket. Her right arm dangled of the sides, right next to a humming laptop on the floor. The brunettes hair was framing her face, hiding most of it, but not the fact that she was slightly drooling on the sofa, leaving a small wet spot right under her face. 

Shaw shook her head smiling at the sight in front of her in disbelieve. It was kind of fascinating how Root could look so peaceful and innocent while asleep and for some weird reason Shaw found some comfort in watching Root. The moment was short lived when her mother cleared her throat.

“So are you gonna tell me why your friend is drooling all over my new couch?” 

Shaw teared her gaze away from Root and looked up at her mom, tilting her head slightly to the side she walked past her into the kitchen while saying, “She is not my friend!”

She grabbed the coffee-can, poured herself some of the dark liquid, before she sat down by the kitchen table and relished in the smell of bacon and eggs, mixed with coffee and tea her mother was making.

“Then what is she?” her mother questioned as she followed Shaw curiously inside the kitchen.

“Brunette?” Shaw shrugged, filling her plate with some of the delicious breakfast.

“Thats not...” her mother started annoyed until she saw the smirk on her daughters face.

“You are making bacon and eggs? Are you sick?” Shaw asked bemused.

The woman just shook her head at Sameen and poured herself some of the freshly brewed tea, “I know you like that nasty stuff so I made it…” she answered as she dropped some dried rose pedals in her tea.

Still waiting for an answer her mother turned around trying to hide a smile as she gave her daughter a questioning eyebrow.

“She is just an annoying nerd that I cant seem to get rid off!” Shaw finally answered with a mouthful of bacon.

Shaws mother nodded slowly, as she stirred in her tea, starring off in thought for a moment, before her eyes settled back on Shaw.

“So couch-girl... Is she also a med student?” Shaws mother asked, sipping some of her tea.

Shaw started to fill her plate again, with some more breakfast, taking a huge bite of it before answering.

“No… And her name is Root.”

Her mothers face scrunched up into confusion before shaking her head.

“Root… what a silly name! Those Americans and their weird names, pah!”

Shaw could see her mother contemplate about something, as she fiddled with the spoon inside the teacup. Slowly a light smile stretched on her lips,  
“So how did you meet your 'not friend', … why is she here?”

“Whats with the 20 questions?” Shaw mumbled annoyed while chewing on her food.

“Sameen what have I told you about table manners, chew with your mouth closed, you look like an animal about to… .”

Shaws mother was interrupted by a disoriented Root, who stumbled into the kitchen, one hand holding her head, the other holding onto the door frame.

Both Shaw and her mother looked up, studying a very hang over Root. Looking closer Shaw noticed the pants hugging Roots slim figure were way to short, ending right under her knees, the t-shirt which Root was wearing was also way to short, showing of some of the bare skin underneath.

Sameens eyes narrowed on the hacker, “Are those my clothes?”

Root didn't even acknowledge Shaws question as she pushed herself inside the room, walking over to Shaw.

“Please tell me you got some Aspirin!” she drawled out, taking a seat next to Shaw and dropping her head down on the table.

“You had like what? One drink?”

“More like 2 Sameen!... Pretty pleeease!” 

Shaw shook her head annoyed but got up and gathered a bottle of water with some aspirins, before sitting back down and pushing them in front of Roots face.

“Don't take them on a empty stomach!” Shaw said disinterested, paying her breakfast full attention again.

“Hmm, thanks sweety!” Shaw rolled her eyes annoyed at the brunette and then continued to inhale the plate of eggs in front of her.

Shaws mother pressed another plate of bacon and eggs in front of Root, giving her shoulder a light squeeze, “Eat girl, you'll feel better!”

Suddenly Roots head snapped up, probably to quick because she dug her fingers into the table as her head spun. Her eyes were going wide as she looked into the dark brown ones of Shaws mother.  
Shaw could see Root gaping obviously she had been oblivious to the fact that Shaws mom was living here too.

“Uuuh...” Root eyes switched from Shaws mother back to Shaw, back to her mother and back to Shaw, it was getting ridiculous. If Shaw hadn't known better she would say that Root was experiencing a stroke. She had to admit it was kind of satisfying to see Root at a loss of words, so she let her suffer a moment longer.

“Root, thats my mom and uh, mom… well thats Root!”

Root quickly got up, the chair clattered loudly to the floor behind her and her legs gave out only slightly at the sudden movement. Root quickly cradled her head with her left hand, closing her eyes tightly shut for a moment, she tried to hold out her other hand towards Shaws mother who was quick to hold onto a unsteady Root, while quickly picking up the chair that had fallen to the ground.

“Whoa dear… easy, you better sit down.”

“I'm sorry… “ Root breathed out, shacking her head in embarrassment.

Shaws mother gave her a reassuring pet on the back, before grabbing her purse,”I have to go to work now, see you two tonight!”, she said and gave Shaw a last 'don't let her puke anywhere' look, before leaving.

“What was that about?” Shaw questioned after her mother had fled the scene and leaned back on her chair to get a better look at Root.

“Nothing. You just.. you could have told me that your mother is here!.”  
“Well my mouth was kind of occupied last night Root and I think bringing up my mom would have kinda killed the mood.. .”

Root tilted her head to the side giving Shaw a lopsided grin.

Sameen shook her head and reached out for her coffee, enjoying the silence for a moment.

“Besides, I think you still have some explaining to do Root!”

Root looked back at her irritated. “Now isn't really the right time Shaw!”

Root leaned forward and started to fiddle with the silverware to occupy her nervous hands. Shaw could see right through what she was doing, eating to give her time to answer Shaws questions… .

“Then when is Root? I think I deserve some answers!” Shaw said angrily leaning in towards Root.

The brunette put her food down, she tilted her head to the side, “The less you know the better!”

“Root, I have waited long enough… you tell me whats going on now or you can leave!”  
Roots eyes were calculating studying Shaws face closely. She let out an shaky breath.

“Sameen… its not time y...”

“Well, then get out!” she interrupted getting more angry by the second, she pointing towards the door.

Roots eyes went wide in disbelieve, she let her head drop, looking down at her shaking hands which were balling into fists. 

“Sam..”

“OUT!”

Roots head snapped up, she grabbed Shaws wrist, desperately holding on to it she leaned towards Shaw bringing them closer together. 

“Just hear me out!” Root tried again, her nails digging into the flesh of Shaws wrists. Her eyes steady on Shaws dark angry ones, pleading her to stay and hear what she had to say.

Shaw slowly backed down from the laser stare the brunette was giving her, slowly she nodded, leaning back against her chair again.

Root kept holding on to Shaws wrists, not letting her go. She looked away trying to find the right words to say.

“I already lost to much people, I cant loose you to Sameen… I promise you that I will tell you, but just believe me when I tell you that I cant do it just yet… .” Roots eyes were shining with tears, as she looked pleadingly into Shaws eyes, willing her to understand and believe her.

Shaw looked away from Root, eyes focusing on something in the distance, she shook her head, this wasn't enough, whatever Root was doing it was more than just dangerous and guessing that if Root was involved it could be considered stupidly reckless. 

“Fuck Root… You need to give me more than that.”

Root slowly let go of Shaws wrists, bringing a hand up to scratch herself nervously behind her right ear. She nodded slowly licking her lips and wiping at the tear that was rolling down her face.

Not saying anything she slowly pushed herself up, and Shaw watched her walk out of the kitchen. She could feel a lump form in her throat, without a second though she got up herself. She didn’t really want Root to leave, she just wanted answers.

“Root?” 

The hacker stopped, back turned towards Shaw she slowly turned her head to the side to look at her, “What?”

“You left with Martine… no call, no text, nothing. Then after 2 weeks you just come back like no big deal and expect me to not ask questions? You don't think I see your shaking hands and the bruises that I know aren't from me and don't get me started on the cut behind your ear… .”

Shaw didn't know where all this was coming from, but it felt good to let it out, she deserved to know what was going on, she wanted to help with whatever Root was doing, even if it was only to make sure Root wouldn't get herself killed doing it.

“No Shaw… I expect you to trust me.” Root answered, wiping furiously at the tears falling down her cheeks.

“What if whatever you do gets you killed Root… You said you needed my help, here I am, trying to help you do whatever the fuck it is you do!”

Roots rushed back to Shaw, fingers buried themselves inside Sameens collar, pushing her back until her back hit the wall. Forcefully, Root crashed their lips together, hips crushing the smaller woman between them and the solid surface behind her. The hacker was already panting, she pulled back, her face only inches away from Shaws, her eyes shining with something that Shaw couldn't pinpoint.. The hacker leaned forward pressing her forehead against Shaws closing her eyes.

“Murphy's law, Sam!”

If Root had meant to be reassuring, she was failing horrible, Shaw thought. 

“Murphy's a douche.” Shaw whispered back.

A small chuckle escaped Roots mouth at that. She brought her arms around Shaws shoulders, closing her eyes just for a moment. 

“You just have to trust me.”

Shaw squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, no Root, I don't trust you enough to know you are not going to do something stupid and get yourself killed in the process. She was going to find out what Root was up to, but the hacker didn't need to know that.

“You know you look ridiculous in those clothes right?” Shaw whispered her eyes lingering on Roots lips.

“You teared my shirt remember?” 

Shaw smirked at that, leaning forward she captured the brunettes lips again. The kiss was soft this time becoming deeper and more intimate, saying everything they couldn't put into words. After a moment it was becoming to much again and Shaw broke it off, resting her head back against Roots, not opening her eyes.

“Can I crash here for a couple of days?” Root asked unsure.  
Shaw nodded, not opening her eyes, just resting against Root. “Should I even ask?”

“Probably not.”

Shaw leaned back slightly, resting her hands on the brunettes waist.

“I have to go.”

“Hmm?” 

“Work… I have to go to work.”

Shaw took a deep breath, enjoying the moment for just another second, before pushing Root back and walking back inside her room, putting on her lab coat and making her way to work.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Shaw wasn't going to let Root get away with that, she had never agreed to stay away or do her own investigation. So when she was off work her first stop was to get bugs she could plant on the brunette, yea Shaw wasn't really proud of that but if she maybe could help out from the distance what did it matter.

Shaw swung the door open, dropping her bag on the kitchen counter, she walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. She snapped off the lid and took a long drag from it, before walking out of the room inside the living room.

Her eyebrows raised to the ceiling as she saw Root and her mother hunched over a computer. Root looked frustrated trying to explain something to Shaws mother while her mom nodded exaggeratedly but was obviously not understanding a word Root was saying.

“Whats up weirdos?” Shaw said, as she dropped down on the sofa, kicked off her shoes and turned on the TV. Both woman gave her an annoyed look.

“She fixed my computer.” Shaws mother said happily, as she walked past Sameen, pushing her daughters legs off of the table they sat on and walked into the kitchen.

Root finished off writing something on the computer and then walked over to Shaw and dropped down on the sofa next to her.

“Hey sweety, how was your day.”

Shaw ignored her and switched through multiple programs on the tv not able to decide. She could feel the brown eyes curiously burn into her, when suddenly she felt a pull on her beer bottle.

“Get your own!” Shaw said grumpily before pushing Roots hand away. When there was no retorted or anything coming from Root, she looked over.

Root starred disinterested at the tv and Shaw noticed that she thankfully had put on different clothes. 

“Is that my hoody?” 

“And your pants, took forever to find a pair that fits!” Root shrugged.

Shaw starred at her wide-eyed.

“You went through my clothes?”

“Computer girl come help me in the kitchen.” her mothers voice interrupted before Root could answer. She gave Shaw a small smile, unnecessarily she put a hand on Sameens tight to push herself up and walked into the kitchen.

Shaw leaned her head back against the sofa, closing her eyes only for a moment.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Fingers closed around her shoulder blade and she rapidly blinked her eyes open, head snapping up, to look into brown amused soft eyes.

“You fell asleep?”

Shaw squinted looking around, “No!”

Root chuckled slightly, making Shaws chest feel tighter. “Dinners ready.”

They walked inside the kitchen and Shaw sat down, already starting to inhale the food in front of her, before Root had even sat down.

“Where is my mom?”

“She had an urgent call from work, said it was important and left.” 

Shaw nodded, and they ate the rest of their meal in silence, Root nibbling on her food and Shaw ravishing it. This felt awfully domestic to Shaw and worse she didn't mind it. When they were finished Shaw got up and cleaned the table, turning the dishwasher on. She grabbed two bottles of beer out of the fridge, walking back inside the living room. When Root didn’t move she called after her, “You coming or what?”

In a second Root was sitting down next to her on the sofa and Shaw snapped off the lids of the bottles, pushing on in front of Root and taking a sip from her own.

“What happened to your hand?” Shaw asked, as she spotted that Roots hand was bandaged. How was she only noticing this now?

Root looked down at her hand, balling it into a fist and letting go again.  
“I cut myself when I chopped the vegetables...” Root answered embarrassed, scratching herself behind her ear.

“Let me see!” Shaw said, stretching out her hand towards Root. The hacker genuinely smiled at her, shaking her head.

“Its not that bad…. I was just a bit clumsy.”

Shaw narrowed her eyes at the hacker, but then shrugged her shoulders and turned the tv on.

After 5 minutes of aimlessly switching through programs, she turned on her xbox and threw a controller at Root and dropped down on the sofa again with her own.

Root looked at her with that annoyingly attractive smile again, “What are we playing?”

“Counter Strike..” 

Before Shaw could even choose a side Root had already picked the 'terrorist' with a smirk. She leaned back, pulling her feet up and sat down cross-legged on the couch. They were two lonely island on either side of the couch now.

After the 7th round Shaw was angrily smashing the buttons of her game controller, she had lost every game but the first one to Root. This was not possible, how could that nerd beat her at a game like this? When her character was killed yet another time as he was shot through the wall, Shaw turned towards Root, angrily squeezing her fingers against her game controller.

“Stop cheating Root!”

“Im not cheating, you'r just terrible at the game sweety..!” Root laughed, starting to stretch her legs out and poking Shaws tights with her feet.  
“Stop that!” Shaw spat out angrily, before pushing Roots feet of off her.

“Playtimes over!” Shaw said seriously, leaning forward angrily focusing all concentration she had left on the tv, starting the next game.

After she lost the next four games too, she was more than a 100% sure that Root was cheating, but two can play that game. She starred intensely on Roots side of the TV watching what Root was doing and when her character got close to Shaws, she reached her hand up and pushed random buttons on the brunettes controller and Root snorted when she saw that Shaw had somehow managed to kill her own character while trying to interfere with Roots game.

Annoyed she threw Roots game controller on the floor, crossing her arms in front of her defensively.

“Whatever.. your able to cheat in a crappy video game, but we both know who would win a real fight… .” Shaw hissed still annoyed. 

“You'r cute when you get all angry over a video game!” Root smirked.

Shaw rolled her eyes annoyed, starring forward still pretty pissed off. She could feel Root lean in from the side, her lips coming close to her ear.

“I let you win next time.” Root breathed out.

“Bite me!” Shaw answered shrugging Root off.

She knew the second she said it, that it was a bad idea as Roots teeth sunk into the sensitive skin on her neck, making her involuntarily moan out loud. She pushed the hacker roughly off of her, leaning forward and taking a long sip of the beer that had been long forgotten.

Root chuckled next to her, also taking another sip of her beer, closely watching Shaw. Sameen switched back to real-time tv again, leaning back, her arms still crossed angrily.

After they had made it 10 minutes into the movie Shaw could feel Root shuffling closer. Shaw was aware of what Root was doing and it was kind of hilarious, how Root leaned forward ever so often to 'take a drink' and then proceeded to not so subtly slid closer to Shaw. 

Shaw could feel a cold pale hand reaching up to her crossed arms, trying to uncross them, as Root leaned into her side, trailing kisses along her jaw.  
“Im sorry… .” Root whispered, trying to intertwine their fingers. The brunettes hair tickled on her face and neck, making her shiver slightly. She wasn't sure why Root had felt the need to apologize.  
She turned her face to look over at Root, who looked a bit unsteadily into her own.

“Are you drunk?” Shaw asked, trying to suppress a smile.

Embarrassed Root hid her face inside the crook of Shaws neck. Shaw shook her head smiling slightly, how could she have feelings for such a lightweight?

A cold pale hand traveled up her torso, cupping her cheek and pulled her down into a searing kiss.  
Root pushed the persian woman down, laying herself down next to her, before breaking of the kiss.

“Your cold!” Shaw stated, before bringing an arm around Root and pushing her into her side. The brunette snuggled up into her side, her head resting on top of Shaws chest.

“Not anymore.”Root whispered. She closed her eyes, listening to Shaws heartbeat, as she sneaked a cold hand under Shaws shirt, drawing out nameless patterns on warm skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So excited to have those two idiots finally reunited again!... Hope you liked it!


	13. Chapter 13

Even though Root had been staying with them for a couple days now, Shaw didn't get to see much of her. That was partly due to her busy work schedule but also part of Roots evening and nights strolls to where ever it was she was going.

If Shaw was lucky enough to get off of work on time, she mostly got to see Root for maybe half an hour. She was mostly either sitting on the couch, typing furiously on her laptop or sleeping in a uncomfortable position on the couch, with her laptop humming on top of her tights.

Root had never stayed the night and it confused Shaw to no end. She was glad that she didn't need to explain their sleeping arrangements to her mother because in all honesty she wasn't sure how to explain them in the first place, but since it didn't exist she was sparred the questions. 

She burned to ask Root where she was going at night, or why she never seemed to sleep at times normal people slept but she couldn't ask Root, that would only evoke more questions. Questions she wasn't ready to answer or knew the answer to.

They had never really talked about their 'relationship' and Shaw was thankful for that, she knew Root wanted more, but she never pushed Shaw for anything, so it was only fair that Shaw did the same. So this is how she justified her actions, when Root had taken a shower, Shaw slipped into the bathroom where Roots leather jacket was hanging on the back of one of the chairs, and bugged it. Yea she wasn't particularly proud of it, but if it meant she would be able to keep Root save, to hell with it.

Of course Root had left without it, Shaw had wondered if Root had somehow found out about the bug, but didn't do anything about it. If Root had found it, she was ready for the confrontation. The next day though, Root had already been gone and to Shaws relieve the jacket too.

She had hurried into her room, checking the GPS of the bug, only to be shown a location on the campus. Surprised she put her black hoody on and made her way there. She really wanted to know what Root had been up to, but she was disappointed as she looked into one of the rooms, only to see the asian boy who had been in the hospital with Root, sitting next to the brunette, as she was typing something on a computer. Shaw had to suppress an eye roll at that. 

Really had she gone all this way out here only to watch Root typing some boring stuff on a laptop?  
Annoyed at herself and Root she shoved her cold hands into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone, activating the microphone on the bug. It only buzzed, the voices where muffled and Shaw couldn't make anything out of it.

Well that was more than disappointing. She had watched them for almost another hour, doing mostly some nerdy computer stuff, until she had enough. She couldn't believe that she had spent almost 2 hours out in the cold, literally stalking Root. Angry and shivering she made her way back home, but she left the microphone on.

 

Shaw was lying on her bed asleep, as a voice next to her woke her up. It was Root. She slowly blinked her eyes open, looking around for the brunette.

“Root? What time is it?”

There was no answer… She sat up and looked around, “Yes … I know … but … Then when is the right time?” Root said angrily.

Shaw blinked, coming to the realization that it was the bug she had planted, so she grabbed her phone and tried to listen, but she could only hear Roots voice. Who the hell was with her, making her so angry.

“… thats not what she would have wanted.” another pause, Shaw pressed her ears to the speakers of her phone, but she still wasn't able to hear the other person.

“I've done nothing besides lay low like you said, but im done… I wont leave her…I promised her.” Root spat, getting more emotional by the second.

Leave her? Who the hell was Root talking about, more importantly who was Root with? 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

After that night Shaw made sure to follow Root more often, she was a 100% sure now, that whatever Root was up to could and would potentially get her killed. After checking up on Root ever so often, even during her work hours, she found out that Root really loved talking to herself. First Shaw had always thought that the bug wasn't able to pick up the other persons voice either because the other person was standing to far of, or was talking to quietly, but after following her one night she found out that that really wasn't true.

Also despite all her efforts Root somehow managed to disappear into seemingly thin air. And as weird as that was, the bug started to glitch at those times, disconnecting the bug and her phone, only to work a couple hours later, like nothing had happened.

Apparently Root spent a lot of time with the asian boy, which somehow made Shaw feel… well angry, she couldn't help when she watched them, her hands balled into fists unconsciously. Root spent a lot of nights in his room, also the other boys from the hospitals were there most of the time, but the asian boy seemed to have a more than obvious crush on her. Shaw wasn't sure what was actually making her angry, that she spent some couple of hours of her precious nights that she could be spending in her bed, watching Root, like a creeper, or that Root was spending so much time with those boys, when she could be doing this at day time… and not at night, when she could be sleeping.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Shaw has had another exhausting day at the hospital, she slammed her bag down on the kitchen table, before walking over to the living room, letting herself drop down next to Root. The brunette however was so caught up in whatever she was doing that she jumped when the sofa dipped down from Shaws weight. 

“Give a girl some warning.. .” Root exhaled, her hand clutching her chest.

Shaw just smirked and shrugged her shoulders.

“Shaw come help your mother in the kitchen… and pick up that bag!” her mothers voice rang out of the kitchen.

Shaw exhaled and exhausted breath, before kicking her shoes off.

“I just came home… .” She looked over at Root, who's attention seemed to be completely swallowed by the laptop again; “ Root can help you!” 

There was a moment of silence before Root looked down at her amused. “ Im not allowed In the kitchen anymore!”

“What? Why? Since when?” Shaw asked, narrowing her eyes at the brunette.

“She actually managed to burn the spaghettis… .”

Root opened her mouth to interject and defend herself, but Shaws mother continued on, talking right over Root; “ Managed to cut herself while chopping the vegetables at least 4 times… she burned the meat… “

“I think she gets the picture… .”Root interjected embarrassed before Shaws mother could go on even further.

“Root can help set up the table… you,” she pointed her finger at her daughter. “help me … Now!” the woman said excitedly.

“The table?”

Shaw looked over at Root, studying her for a second.

“Its thanksgiving Root… family is coming over.”

Root suddenly sat up straighter, with a far away look on her face. She put the laptop on top of the table.

“Oh… I better leave then.” the brunette said, while trying to straighten the wrinkles out of the pants she was wearing, before getting up.

Shaw narrowed her eyes at the brunette again.

“Is your family celebrating?” Shaws mother asked from somewhere behind them.

Root looked around, before shaking her head 'no'.

“Well then you better go take a shower and get ready, there is enough food for one more person!” she said, even though Shaw was sure her mother had already planned for Root to be there in the first place.

Root shook her head again, making a vague hand gesture; “Oh no, really! I should go! Its like you said a family thing… I don't want to ruin your dinner!”

“Nonsense! You will eat with us!” When Root opened her mouth to protest, Shaws mother pointed a threating finger at her glaring. “You stay! End of discussion!”

With that Shaws mother left the room, obviously finished with their conversation. Shaw could feel Roots brown eyes burning on her, before she looked up.

“What?”

“I really don't want to bud in!” Root protested.

“You're not… Your heard my mom, there is enough food for everyone.. I really don't see the problem!”

“Any you're ok with this?” Root asked slowly.

“Well she did say there is enough food so… yea.“ Shaw said, as she pushed herself up and followed her mother into the kitchen.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Shaws uncle was first to arrive, greeting Shaws mother with a kiss on the cheek, before looking curiously at Root. A smile stretched on his lips, as his eyes flickered from Root to Shaw who was busy with the turkey and back to Root.

He walked over to the brunette, extending his hand towards Root, who shook it. When she tried to pull away again he held onto her with a smile. “Im Shaws uncle, you can call me Reza!” 

“Im Root, its nice to meet you.” she answered sweetly, and he let go of her hand with a slightly wavering smile.

Slightly irritated, his eyes flickered back to Shaw, before settling back on the brunette.

“Thats… Thats an interesting name.. .” he said, nodding his head with raised eyebrows. 

Shaw suppressed a smile at that, he looked as confused by Roots name as her mother had looked. 

He then proceeded to walk over to Shaw. Shaws mother had watched Root and Rezas interaction, and decided that it was better if she took care of the introductions after that.

She proceeded to introduce Root to her sister Maryam, their son Ali and from Shaws fathers side of the family Sameens aunt Sara with her husband Mike. 

To Shaws horror Ali her cousin had found a liking in Root, not that she could blame him, but it also didn't go unnoticed by her mother. This was gonna be along night, Shaw thought.

 

Root was standing awkwardly in the kitchen, scratching herself nervously behind her right ear, and Shaw wondered if it was the crowed that made her nervous or the fact that it was Shaws family. They all did welcome her very kindly and warm even though they just thought she was just a friend who probably usually would not celebrate Thanksgiving.

“Computer girl! … Just take the seat next to Sameen… you're a guest you don't have to help.” she said smiling at the brunette, as she led her out of the kitchen.

The brunette obeyed and sat down, Shaw kept an eye on her, noticing that she kept touching the spot she has had the stitches a week ago, and zoning out out every so often, she could tell that something was wrong, but she let go of it for now.

Everybody had found their seats, and Shaws mother was handing out freshly brewed tea, as the rest of the family was engaged in comfortable small talk.

Shaw said down next to Root, bumping her knee against Roots, who looked over at her with a smile on her lips.

“Mike! Come help me with the turkey!”

Both Root and Shaw looked up as they brought in the turkey and Mike started to cut it handing out slices to everyone. 

“Nasrin, this is wonderful! There really isn't anyone who can cook better than you!” Reza said, to Shaws mother, before talking another huge bite.

“Your to kind!” Nasrin said blushing slightly.

“How is business going Reza?” Mike asked.

“Oh you know… we actually signed a contract with one… .”

Shaw couldn't help but notice Root unconscious movements, something was up but Shaw couldn't but her finger on what it was. She had barely touched her food, which okay was normal for Root, but this time it wasn't from lack of hunger, it was something else. Roots eyes slowly went from Maryam to her husband Reza to Mike… like she was trying to find something, trying to figure something out. 

“Whats wrong Root?” Shaw finally asked, leaning slightly closer to Root.

The brunette jumped slightly, obviously having been deep in thought. 

“Hmm?”

Shaw narrowed her eyes at her, but before she could ask again, Rezas voice rang over the table.

“Well.. to Nasrin who brought us all together for this lovely evening and made this absolutely perfect dinner!” he said smiling at Shaws mother.

Everybody clinked their classes and drank. 

“I really love your hair! What conditioner do you use?” Sara asked after everybody went back to eating, catching Root of guard. Shaw had a feeling that that wasn't something that Root payed a lot of attention to, but credits for Sara she at least tried.

“Uh… I… Oh I really just… .” 

“Yes pretty! She is a pretty girl, don't you think she is pretty?” Nasrin said, as she reached over to Root, her fingers touching the brunettes hair lightly, looking at Ali.

He definitely felt uncomfortable, making Shaw smirk slightly. He nodded, shifting all the attention to the tea that was standing in front of him.

“Dear what did you say you do with computers?” Shaws mother questioned.

Root looked up a bit confused at being addressed again, she quickly found her composure, before answering, “Anything you need me to really.”

Shaws mother nodded, before looking at Ali.

“Ali you had some problem with your computer didn't you.. .” 

Shaw suddenly realized what her mother was doing and rolled her eyes. She could feel Roots eyes burning on her, she probably realized were this was going too, but she ignored Root shifting all her attention to the food in front of her, shutting mostly out what Ali had to say.

“..Oh it has actually been fixed.” he answered between bites. Looking up at Root, “Im a banker, you probably heard about the huge crash a couple weeks ago, all our system went into a frenzy was awful really. You wouldn't believe with how much complains we had to deal. “

“Right, do they actually have a lead on the hacker who did this?” Root suddenly asked very interested, her eyes dancing with something close to amusement.

“No I don't think so… Hope they did, that hacker group is dangerous, nearly put people on the streets.. .”

“Hacker group?” Root asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yea… well I guess, there is no way this was one person alone, the attacks were coming from all over the world, doubt that one person could infect so many computers and redirect proxys and stuff all at once.”

Shaw really wanted to ignore the smirk on Roots lips, but it was really hard. Her nose did that crinkling thing again and Sameen felt like she had to punch something to stop her stomach from turning like it threatened to keep doing.

Shaws mother excitedly watched the interaction between the two, she then focused all her attention back to Root.

“So do you have a boyfriend, Root?” Nasrin asked, taking a bite of the mashed potatoes.

Shaw snorted next to Root, gaining a glare from the brunette and her mother, before the hacker looked back at Shaws mother.

“A boyfriend? No, not yet.” She answered smiling widely, before kicking Shaws knees under the table, who tried to stop from snorting. 

Reza had obviously picked up on something, trying to steer the conversations to a more comfortable matter he turned to Root.

“Does you family live around here?”

“No.” Root answered plainly.

Reza still looked at her, expecting more of an answer. 

“Im just curious Root, I was wondering, where are you from?” Reza asked, still smiling at her.

“Im from Texas, a small town called Bishop.”

“Oh, Texas huh! Does you family still live there? Do you get to see them all the time?”

Root suddenly looked up, swallowing the last bit of food. Shaw could feel Root tensing. The hand under the table forming a fist.

“My family?” Root repeated, voice full of fake confidence that left a wavering tone behind.

“Yes, your mom and dad, do Texans not celebrate Thanksgiving?” Maryam asked curiously.

“Uh … no they do, it is actually a big thing back in Bishop.” Root nodded uncomfortable, Shaw watched as she dug her fingers forcefully into her own tights. 

“Why aren't you celebrating with you family then? .. If you dont mind me asking… .” Maryam pressed on before taking a sip of her tea, that was probably cold by now.

There was a forced smile on Roots face that Shaw was sure no one who actually didn't know Root would buy… but not Shaw, she knew something was up.

Root tilted her head slightly to the side faking an even bigger smile at Maryam. 

“… There aren't…” Root cleared her throat, “ celebrating anymore .” her eyes drifting to the ground, before looking back up, the fake smile now showing more than seconds ago. Shaw could see Roots walls crumble.

Now it was Shaws mothers turn to speak, she also saw right through Roots fake smile, she had spent quite some time with her for the last couple of days not to notice something was up. Her voice was soft and careful, as she leaned forward looking into Roots eyes.

“They aren't anymore...?” she looked over to Shaw. “I don't understand her family … .”

“Maman please, just drop it.” Shaw answered for Root. Shaw wasn't sure if Root actually wanted to tell them her mother was dead, but it wasn't her place to tell, or decide for her. 

Root only shook her head slowly, eyes focused on the water glass in front of her.

“Where are they?” she tried again.

Root took a deep breath, her eyes locking with Shaws mother again, trying to get her walls up again.

“She died, this, “ Root pointed at the food in front of her laughing slightly, “is so good! Whats that.. is that lavender flavor..?” Root tried hoping to change the subject. 

Shaws mother wasn't going to let the subject drop tho, so she pressed on, “And you father?”

Shaw could see how uncomfortable Root was, she wanted to run Shaw could tell, she tried to get her walls up, failing horribly. Shaw could see Roots hands, knuckles white drawing blood. Shaw reached over under the table and interviewed them, Root looked over to her confused, but glad that Shaw reassured her.

“Never knew him… .” Root said slowly, looking at Shaw, finding strength in her, it was like Root was only talking to her, like they were alone in the room.

“He left when my mother dropped the word responsibility on him before I was born. I don't know the rest of my family…,” finding new strengths, she looked back at Nasrin. 

“They were really religious, and disowned my mother after she told them about me and that she would not aboard me… they broke off every contact… I know that her mother died early on, she also had a brother but I never met him, he never tried to contact my mother either.”

“Uh, you poor girl!”

Shaws mother got up and Shaw quickly let go of Roots hand as Root was pulled up from her chair, her mothers arms suddenly threw themselves around Roots slim shoulders, engulfing her in a hug. Root looked more shocked at the gesture, not really knowing what to do with her arms, she let them hang on her side. For a fleeting moment Shaw wondered if Root had ever been hugged before, because she genuinely looked like she had no idea about what was happening. Her eyes suddenly began to water, and Shaws mother pulled away. 

“Your family now!” She sat back down with a big smile handing the biggest dessert over to Root.

Root was shacking and Nasrin reached for the brunettes hand, holding onto it she smiled at Root.

“You're family now!” Nasrin stated again, giving Roots hand one last squeeze before letting go again.

Root looked like she was going to explode with tears any second, her hands shacking worse than that time at the hospital. 

“Are you alright dear?” Maryam asked, studying Root with a very concerned look on her face.

Root wanted to say something but the loud ringing of her phone saved her, she pulled it out of the back pocket of her pants, looking at the caller id. Root looked apologetically at Maryam and then at Nasrin, before getting up from her chair again. 

“Excuse me! Its important, I have to take this!”

After a moment of debate Shaw also excused herself from the table too and went to check up on Root.

The brunette was standing in the kitchen with her back towards Sameen.

“Ill be there in a moment.. just don't … do anything!” Root said exasperatedly, as she hung up the phone, taking a deep breath. She turned around, returning her phone to the pocket.

She leaned back against the kitchen counter looking up at Shaw surprised.

“Your leaving?” 

“Its important!” Root breathed out.

Shaw crossed her arms in front of her defensively.

“It always is!” 

“Ill be back later, promise!” Root faked another smile, wiping at a tear that threatened to fall.

When Root tried to leave Shaw grabbed her by the arm, pulling her in front of her, trapping the hacker in between the kitchen counter and Shaws body.

“Root im not letting you leave!” Shaw said, trapping Root with her arms now.

When Root said nothing, she pressed on;” You have been acting strange all night… Whats going on?” Shaw asked, unable to keep the worry out of her voice.

“Is it my family? I know they can be a bit much … .”

“No Sam, they're great!” Root interrupted quickly; … Its just… .”

Root brought a hand up to touch a loose strand of hair that was hanging in Shaws face. She toyed with it for a second.

“Root?”

“I just never had any of this before …!” Root confessed in a whisper, letting go of the strand of hair.

Shaw looked at her slightly confused, bringing up a finger touch the tear that was threating to fall from Roots chin.

“I never had an actual family dinner… . I never had anything even close to this. It all just a bit overwhelming, thats all.” 

“You and your mother never celebrated any holiday? What about you birthday or.. .”

“No she did. She always tried. It worked out until I was maybe 5 or 6, but she was really sick and I alone wasn't able to lift her into her wheelchair, she wasn't able to work because of her illness and… well we didn't have a lot of money. So on holidays I always went somewhere stole some food and brought it to her, we ate it together on her bed, but it mostly ended with her puking and me having to clean everything up.”

Standing there, Root confessing things to her that she was sure the brunette had never told anybody else, a feeling came over Shaw. It was insufferable. She wanted to crush her, wanted to actually hug her, kiss her. She wanted to obliterate the space between them, she needed this feeling to stop. She didn't do feelings, but they seemed to fight their way to the surface with Root. She felt a lump form in her throat as she watched Root confess.

“Thank you.” Root whispered, as she rested her head on Shaws shoulder.

“For what?” Shaw asked confused.

“For this.” Root whispered into her neck, her arms sneaking around Shaws shoulders. 

Shaw brought her hand up to Roots chin, forcing the brunette to look up at her. 

Shaw opened her mouth to say something, but words were not able to leave her mouth, so she just leaned forward and captured Roots lips with her own.

Her arms encircling Roots waist, bringing them closer together. The kiss started slow, Roots mouth burning hot and enticing as the kiss got more heated. Root was first to pull back panting.

“I have to go… .” the brunette breathed out rather annoyed.

Shaw still had her eyes closed, stealing one last kiss, before letting go of Root.

“Ill be back later, promise!” Root whispered.

“Like I never heard that before… .” Shaw scoffed.

Root smirked at her, giving her a another quick peck on the lips before she left.

Shaw shook her head annoyed at the brunette, as she turned around and rested her body against the kitchen counter for a second.

Suddenly feeling a pair of dark eyes on her, she looked up at her mother, who had her arms crossed in front of her.

They starred at each other for a second, no one saying a word. Shaw let out an annoying breath pushing herself away from the kitchen counter, wanting to make her way out of the room.

“Now I get the 'not a friend' thing… .” Her mother laughed.

Shaw turned around, raising an confused eyebrow at her.

“Im not stupid Sameen… You think I don't know what you have been up to for the past few weeks until that girl arrived in my living room?”

Now it was Shaws turn to cross her arms defensively in front of her chest.

Her mother looked at her, smiling slightly she tilted her head to the side.

“You think I didn't get curious, this girl shows up and you stop drinking yourself into a stupor… I don't think I have ever seen you smile so much as when that girl is around… .”

Shaw scoffed at that, but she knew her mother was right.

“Sameen I don’t care that if you see a girl or a boy… I just want to be part of your life… and this girl loves you, I can see that, she really isn't very subtle…” her mother gave a short laugh, walking over to Shaw. 

“And you actually seem to have an affection for her too! Even if you cant admit it to yourself yet. Just promise me you will hold onto it… I think this, between you and computer girl… is a very rare thing, not a lot of people get to have that. Im glad you found your someone Sameen!”

Shaw just starred at her for a moment, letting everything sink in. She gave her mother a curt nod and left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I havent gotten to proof read the chapter yet, I really tried to finish this chapter quickly because i wont be able to do anything in the next few weeks, so I hope you guys liked it, sorry if its kinda short, let me know what you think, thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your nice comments you guys are the best... If your not into smut i would suggest you skip the beginning of this... i really dont know how that happened

Sameen awoke slowly, the fog of unconsciousness still lingered in her vision and her mind. Primal instincts forced her to take in her surroundings. She knew she wasn't alone. She could feel a presents, and her thought was confirmed as she felt the bed dip lower and slender arms crawled over her now tensing form.

Within a second soft lips brushed over the shell of her ear, 

“Relax sweety, its just me.”

“Root?” Shaw breathed out confused, as she lifted her head to look around in dark room, still very much half-conscious. 

“I told you I would be back.” Root whispered, her hot breath ghosting over Shaws neck, forcing chills to run down her spine. 

Shaw turned around to face Root, who had laid down next to her, with her head propped up by her arm, the other resting on top of Shaws abdomen, and of course she was sporting one of those really annoying mischievous smirks that made Shaw feel all warm inside.

“You know,” Root began, as her long, cold fingers crawled their way up Shaws torso towards her neck; “I still owe you… .” Root continued, as she started to bury her face into the side of Shaws neck.

Shaw scowled at the brunette, she really was to tired and really didn't have a clue what the hell Root was talking about.

“Just go to sleep.” Shaw mumbled, pulling Roots hand away from her neck where it had started to draw out random patterns. 

“Thats to bad, I had more… fun things in mind.” Root drawled out quietly, as she trailed kisses up the dark haired womans jaw.

Within seconds the fog of unconsciousness lifted off of Shaw, as Root shoved the covers away from her and started to half straddled her, eyes flaring with a hot sickening liquid lust, sending a delicious thrill right through Shaws core.

The persian womans hands automatically moved to the brunettes thighs to steady her,   
“Root what are you…”

Her sentence was cut off by the hacker, who leaned down and aggressively crashed their mouths together, prying Sameens mouth open, as their tongues met like the swords of two warriors battling. 

Breathing would involve pulling away from the brunette which was out of question. Instead Shaw deepened the kiss even more, placing a firm grip on Roots hips, looping her fingers around the hackers belt, pulling her down and fully on top of her own body, so they were flushed together.

The brunettes fingers dug painfully into the skin right under Shaws chest, as she rocked her hips forward into the other woman, throwing herself slightly off balance and causing heat to pool at the bottom of Shaws stomach. She grabbed the brunettes hips above her tightly, never breaking the kiss, as their bodies were rubbing roughly against one another.

Root was first to brake the kiss, heaving in deep breaths already. She moved down attacking Shaws neck with her lips and teeth, nipping and biting at the tender flesh before she soothed over the same area with her tongue. 

Shaw hated how she was squirming under Roots ministrations, she didn't want to give Root this sort of power over her, but when the brunette started to grind her pelvis more forcefully into her, the hackers hipbones hit a particular sensitive spot and Shaw couldn't help the sharp inhalation, as she threw her head back into the pillow. 

Shaw groaned, half in sexual frustration that was quickly building and half in annoyance for letting Root top her. She wrapped her arms around the narrow torso above, flipping them over and sliding a thigh between the open legs beneath her while pinning the womans wrists above her head. She continued the violent libertine pace with her own hips, smirking at the sounds of the brunettes quickened breath.

Shaw ran her tongue along Roots lower lip, demanding entrance, as both of Roots hands slipped from her grasp and wrapped themselves around her neck and squeezed. The moan never escaped Shaws throat, she closed her eyes relishing in the feelings, until she was close to see stars, Root let go again, her mouth chasing after Shaws, as they met in a delicious war again.

They became hotter wanting to be closer together, Root raked her fingernails down the other womans top, indicating that she wanted it disposed off. She clung to the material tightly, until Shaw finally got rid of the offending object. 

The hackers body kept writhing under hers, grinding her hips forcefully into Shaws. She could only moan quietly in response too lost in the pleasure of having Root rut against her.

Since Shaw seemed to take her sweet time, the hacker was getting more and more impatient, wanting to take back control, she wrapped a leg around Shaws back, grabbed both of her shoulders shifted her weight, she flipped Sameen onto her back and straddled the persian woman between her legs again.

Shaw laughed frustrated but was clearly impressed, “No, not happening…!”

Root looked down at her pouting, but her eyes were still dancing with mischief. She leaned down, teasing her tongue over Shaws bottom lip, causing her to drop her jaw in anticipation for their tongues to start sparring again. Instead Root pulled back, smirking at an eager Shaw pressed up under her.

Sameen opened her eyes and realized what the devious brunette was doing. Teasing her trying to establish dominance. Shaw bit down on her own lip, seeing this had an immediate effect on the hacker, who's pupils were blown wide with lust and want. Root was good, but Shaw was convinced she was better at this.

Shaw slipped her hands under Roots shirt to caress the hot skin underneath, feeling the brunettes muscles flex under her touch. Her hands slowly made their way upwards, until Roots fingers suddenly stopped them on their travel and her cold slender fingers enclosed around Shaws wrists.

“Uh… uuh! “ Root scolded shacking her head, pulling away from Shaw completely.

“Did I say you could touch me?”

Root smirked as she pinned Shaws arms over her head, leaning over the persian woman under her, as her chest brushed ever so slightly over Shaws face, with her fingers still tightly wrapped around the other womans wrists.

The brunette quickly tied Shaws hands together on the bedpost. Shaw couldn't help but breath Root in, her scent completely invading her senses. She smelled like danger and gunpowder and something that was neither perfume or shampoo, something that was all Root.

The hacker had caught onto Shaws momentary stupor, as she brought her hands down Sameens arms that were now bound above her head and gradually dragged them to Shaws sides. When her face was in front of Shaws again she crooked an eyebrow at her in question.

“You didn't say I couldn't… .” Shaw smirked back, tugging at the ropes around her wrists experimentally, to find them firmly and almost inescapably bound around them. 

Root didn't waste more time, as she trailed kisses along Shaws jaw. The other woman closed her eyes, tilting her head back granting Root more access to her neck, holding back moans that threatened to escape. Shaw could feel the brunette smile against her neck, knowing that she had taken full control over Sameen. 

Shaw wasn't used to being the one getting seduced, or the one lying on her back while another worked over her body, as she gave up control and allowed another to lavish her. But she just couldn't help it, she let it happen, let Root have her way with her, like she had imagined every night when she had stumbled home drunk, needing and searching for a release, thinking about Root, about her body above hers, about her sweet lips against her own and Roots slender fingers deep inside her, touching her.

Roots whole body began to seductively move down Shaws, tracing her tongue along her torso and placing rough kisses over her stomach. When she dropped to the point of Shaws pants she looked up with a mischievous smile. She starred Sameen in the eyes and bit her lower lip as she started to painfully, slowly take off Shaws pants. 

All Shaw could do was watch Root with gritted teeth, in anticipation for her next move. Roots hands moved slowly to her hips caressing down Shaws inner thighs as she brought her hands around her knees and backed up the other side of stretching her long fingers over Shaws firm backside. She snug her fingers into the top of Shaws pants and gave them a gentle tug, pulling them off completely.

Root shamelessly raked her eyes over Shaws completely exposed body for a ridiculously amount of time, making Shaw wonder if she had forgotten what they were about to do, so she rocked her hips up into Root, who lost her balance on top of Sameen for a second falling face forward onto the dark haired womans chest. 

“Well someones eager.. .” Root rasped out, failing to sound as unaffected as she tried to be.

Shaw rolled her eyes, arching her back desperately wanting, needing to be touched by Root. At the same time Root scrambled free from her own shirt, quickly discarding it across the room. 

Roots black bra was slightly padded and the fabric rubbed luxuriously against Shaws bare abdomen, as the brunette leaned down and drew a nipple roughly into her mouth. Roots hands continued their travel up Shaws sides stopping at her breasts, squishing the mass between her fingers, making Shaw groan out in pure desperation again. 

Shaw could feel Roots lips smile against her skin, as her hands roamed towards Shaws shoulders, pushing her deeper into the bed covers. The brunettes hair tickled Shaws bare skin, making her shiver, as the hackers tongue traced across Sameens chest to devote her attention to the other breast.

Shaw gasped again, arching her back further into the woman above, as Root proceeded to pinch a nipple between her teeth.

Shaw reacted quickly, wrapping her legs around Roots waist, bringing Root even closer and their centers together. Shaw could feel her own wetness, smearing her stickiness on the insides of her own thighs and onto Roots stomach as, she continued to thrust her hips forward, desperately grinding herself against the hacker, trying to release the pressure that was building even more in her lower stomach.

Root didn't stop, she continued to suck on Shaws nipple, biting and flicking her tongue quickly over her peaks. Pale hands suddenly travelt over Shaws legs, that were still wrapped around Roots narrow frame, and she slowly made her way down, causing Shaw to unwrap her legs in pure anticipation.

Of course Root bypassed Shaws center, listening as the woman under her groaned in frustration again just waiting to be touched. The brunette worked her way up Shaws inner thighs with her mouth, smiling as she heard how heavy Shaw was breathing and tried to hold back her moans.

“Root… Can you just… .” Shaw groaned out in utter frustration and annoyance.

To her horror Root had moved back up towards Shaw, kissing her roughly again.

“Can I just.. ?” Root teased between kisses.

Shaw bit down hard on Roots lip, intending to draw blood, but the moment her teeth bit down, a slender finger moved through her moist wanting folds and Shaw was unable to hold back the moan as it was delivered right onto Roots own lips. 

“Well you sure know how to make a girl feel special, Sam.” Root teased again, spreading Shaws juices around a little. 

The talking wasn't helping Shaws state of mind at all, so she closed her eyes, biting her own lip instead. The back of Shaws head rocketed into the mattress and she sucked in a fresh breath when those same fingers kept rubbing very, very slowly. 

“Stop teasing Root!” Shaw hissed, glaring down at the brunette who smirked again.

She increased the pressure, drawing circles against Shaws clit that made her gasp again, pulling roughly at those stupid ropes around her wrists. 

“Begging already Sameen?”

“I don't beg. “

Root pulled Shaws head to hers, their lips crashing together with a static charge of passion, as Root shoved two long fingers inside her, curling them, to feel the rough inflamed g-spot, causing Shaw to cry out. The pain of the unexpected penetration had been lessened by the distraction of pleasure following right after.

“Oh… fuck Root.” Shaw breathed out, keeping her eyes tightly shut, while biting her lip to keep from screaming out loud again.

Shaw legs were already shacking, her body arching impossibly higher towards the sky, as Root was relentless, not slowing down for a second. She thrust her fingers in and out of Shaw, continuously running them over her sweet spot, curling them inside her.

“Ready for the main event?” Root asked hoarsely as she quickly kissed her way down Shaw body again.

“Shut... up...!” 

Shaw could feel Root laugh against her skin, as her lips made their way closer and closer to the place she wanted them to be most. The moment Roots tongue touched her, euphoria robbed Shaw of her senses, replacing everything she knew with the glorious moment of flawless bliss. Her vision went black, as her thighs clamped together on either side of Roots head, keeping her there, as she arched her hips into Root quivering. 

Shaw was climbing higher than she was sure ever had and just as soon as she thought she had finished Root hit another spot, sending another wave of pleasure through her core, causing her to orgasm over and over again. 

Shaws skin was on fire, her fingertips itched with desire to touch Root, so when her fourth orgasm was about to struck, she couldn't resist anymore, she prolonged the next impending orgasm and ripped her wrists out of the ropes they were bound with. 

Everything happened like a whirlwind after that, Shaw had entangled herself from the ropes and before Root knew what was happening, she was on her back with Shaw on top of her, looking like she was about to devour her prey. She grabbed Root by her thighs and pulled her close, she quickly slid Roots pants off, of her toned long legs and kissed her way down Roots body, encircling her tongue around Roots navel eliciting another moan from the woman underneath. 

Shaw didn't bother to waist more time, she plunged a finger inside Root without warning, causing the brunette to cry out, in both pain and pleasure. Shaw had forgotten how tight Root was, though it didn't stop her from roughly taking the woman, moving her fingers in and out in a fast rhythm. She wanted Root to feel her for days to come. 

Root was getting louder and she hadn't even gone down on her yet. Shaw traveled down Roots body, drinking in each cry and moan that escaped Root, as she trailed her tongue over the soft supple skin on Roots abdomen, while her free hand palmed her still lace-covered breasts roughly.

“Oooh… God! … You feel so good Sameen!” Root moaned out breathlessly.

Shaw couldn't help but moan at the first taste of Root. Fuck. She hadn't expected to get even more turned on. She pushed her tongue in deeper and harder while occasionally licking all the way back to her clit, circling it and moving back, while her fingers kept thrusting in and out, continually squeezing causing her hand to cramp.

“SAMEEN!” Root screamed, “ ...pleasee… more !….”Root managed as her final words, the rest was just screams and sharp breaths, as she threw her head back, bucking her hips and riding Shaws fingers, her hands fisting into Shaws hair, forcing Shaws face harder into her.

Shaw increased the speed and force on Roots clit with her tongue and fingers, feeling the brunettes walls tighten around her fingers. 

Root moaned obnoxiously loud, to the point that Shaw was sure the whole neighborhood was awake by now, with a pretty good idea about what they were doing. Not that she cared, or had half a mind to remember that her whole family was sleeping over.

Shaw could feel herself pulsating longing to be stimulated again, as she thumbed Roots clit and ran her fingers roughly in and out of her, knowing that Root was almost over the edge.

Root was suddenly overwhelmed by her orgasm, Shaw didnt let up, if anything she got rougher, smashing her fingers in and out in a high tempo, making sure to hit Roots g-spot every single time, until she was sure Root couldn't form any coherent thought or sentence anymore.

Roots breaths were coming in short, irregular bursts as she shook with the aftershock, grabbing Shaw and pulling her up for a passionate kiss.

Shaw didn't stop moving inside Root, as Roots own hands found their way back between her legs and she slipped her fingers inside Shaw again, adding more fingers, scissoring them together while her thumb stroked her clit with every stroke. Shaw could feel her own walls clenching around Roots fingers already.

She kisses Root deeper, as she simultaneously stretched her again, feeling like she was momentarily deprived of oxygen.  
She could feel Roots fingers curling over her g-spot again, causing her to quiver again as she practically exploded around the hackers fingers, sending Root over the edge right with her.

They both moaned in ecstasy, their heavy breathing synchronizing as their bodies kept grinding against each other, until they were sure they couldn't take anymore.

Sameen rolled off of Root, still trying to catch her breath, she wrapped Root in her arms protectively. Root snuggled into her, resting her head on the other womans chest, listening to Shaws heart beat slowing down again, while she too tried to catch her breath.

“Fuck.. Root...” Shaw muttered when she had finally mustered up enough energy to form the two words.

Root laughed a little, also feeling more than satisfied.

“There should be a warning of what to expect when sleeping with you!”

“You're one to talk...”

They both laughed slightly, their chest still heaving heavily, as Root leaned up and kissed Shaw more gently this time. Nothing outside this room mattered right now, only her and Root. They were quick to fall asleep in each others arms. Shaw had no idea what it was about Root that made her do those things, but she really didn't wanted to let her mind linger on those thoughts right now.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Thud! - Thud!– Thud! … Sameen?

Shaw slowly blinked her tired eyes open, as she awoke from her slumber. Her shoulder was feeling numb, and there was something heavy resting on her, she opened her eyes, blinking against the sunlight, that streamed inside from the window, bathing the very naked woman on top of her in a golden glow.

Shaws eyes roamed over Roots naked body, as the memories from this morning came back to her, making her smile unconsciously.

Thud! - Thud! - Thud! “Sameen? You awake?”

Shaw glanced over Root, startled to realize that the noise was coming from outside her room. Annoyed at the interruption she slowly removed Roots arm that was slumped over her abdomen and pulled her body out from under Roots, careful not to disturb the sleeping woman. 

Shaw quickly put a shirt and some underwear on, before she walked back over towards Root, throwing a blanked over her body, to cover her from unwanted eyes.

She opened the door only slightly, looking at her blushing aunt Sara standing in front of her.

Shaw just looked at her confused, raising an eyebrow in question. Sara was fidgeting with her hands, as her eyes tried to get a look inside the room, before she finally settled back on Shaws.

“I thought you don't want your mom bursting in here, so I told her I would wake you… Breakfast is ready… .”

The blush that Sara was sporting and her drifting eyes told Shaw more than she needed to know… Its the “Yeah I definitely know what you guys did last night… Since I couldn't sleep and had to listen to your grunting all night… you should be ashamed of yourselves! .. But also congrats on your stamina ….” look. 

Great her whole family had probably heard them last night. Shaw knew she should be embarrassed or ashamed and she probably would be, well if she could.. .

She starred at Sara for a moment, then she gave her a curt nod, “Ill be out in a minute.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Everyone had already gathered around the dining table, eating the delicious breakfast her mother had made. Shaw sat down in her usual spot, stuffing her plate with delicious looking breakfast and pured herself some freshly made coffee.

“Roots not coming to breakfast?” Reza asked smirking, after Shaw had finally settled down and started to eat.

Shaw could see Maryam his wife blushing, when she noticeably kicked him under the table.

But before Shaw had time to answer, her mother had taken her turn.

“What do you mean? Did computer girl come back this morning?”

Everybody fell quiet, laughing silently, as all eyes were directed at Shaw, who quickly stuffed her mouth with eggs.

“Ill go get her!” Her mother suddenly exclaimed excitedly, standing up and wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing.

Maryam quickly got up too, the chair behind her making a loud squeaking noise.

“No, no Nasrin… all go get her.. .” 

“Nonsense… sit down… .” her mother started.

Shaw starred at her, also acting quickly she made a vague gesture with her hands.

“Let her sleep mom… You know she doesn't get a lot of it… .”

Everybody started giggling again, making Shaw glare at each one of them, before her eyes settled back on her mother who was still contemplating whether or not she should wake Root up.

Thankfully she sat back down, sipping quietly on her tea. Shaw caught Maryam looking at her, confirming they all had heard them this morning but thankfully not her mother who could sleep while bombs were going off around her. Knowing that Root was her sort of … maybe .. girlfriend.. was one thing but her mother hearing them having sex is a whole new level and one that she doesn't want to experience.

After the really uncomfortable breakfast Shaw quickly made her way back towards her room, wanting nothing more than to slide in bed next to Root and sleep for another couple hours, but when she opened the door, she was met with an empty bed. Roots clothes that minutes ago had covered the floor were also gone.

Looking at the rest of the room, she realized that Root was gone, a sudden wave of anger washed through her body, followed by another emotion that Shaw wasn't able to pinpoint. Root had done it again, leaving without even as much as a goodbye. She balled her hands unconsciously into fists, her breathing became heavier, she wasn't sure if the anger was directed at herself, Root, or something completely else, but when suddenly arms engulfed her from behind, she released a breath she didn't know she was holding and relaxed into the body behind her. 

“Missed me already?” Root purred into her ear, as her wet hair tickled the side of Shaws neck.

Shaw relished in the feeling of Roots body behind her, enjoying the moment for just a little bid when she turned around to face the woman behind her.

“You're more like bed buggs, you just keep on popping up when I finally think I've gotten rid of you.”

Root wanted to pout but Shaw immediately pulled her in for a deep kiss. 

Root was first to break it, she eyed Shaw suspiciously, bringing up her right hand to brush away a strand of hair that was hanging in Shaws face.

“Are you okay?” Root asked getting concerned.

Shaw squinted at her for a second. Root must have read into the anger that she had felt towards Root for a second. She pulled away from her nodding.

“Im fine.” 

After a moment Root smirked at her again, “Yea you are!” she said, raking her eyes up and down Shaws body.

Sameen rolled her eyes and shook her head at the terrible come on, not able to hold back a smile.

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The next day her whole family had already left again and Root was also off to somewhere. 

Shaw came home exhaustedly after her shift, wanting nothing more than a shower and after that to drop into her bed and sleep for 8 hours straight. She walked into the bathroom, pulling the shirt she was wearing off and throwing it into a pile on the floor, as her eyes drifted over something orange in the trashcan. She ignored it, taking of the rest of her clothes and slipping into the hot shower.

After she had dried herself off again, her eyes caught that orange something again. Curiously she pulled out the orange bottle, looking at the white label that read 'Bisoprolol'. 

Confused her brows furrowed, she looked back into the trash-can, taking all its content out and dropping it onto the floor. She started rummaging around in it, finding another bottle. This one was labelled as 'Ramipril'

“MAMAN!” Shaw called out, as she made her way towards the kitchen.

“Maman, Since when do you have a heart problem? Why didn't you tell me?” Shaw asked angrily, starring at her confused mother.

“I don't.” Nasrin simply stated, studying her daughter carefully.

“Explain this then!” Shaw said, holding out the two bottles towards her mother.

Nasrin brows furrowed as she inspected the orange pill bottles. 

“These belong to a woman called Caroline Turing and not me! Where did you get them from?”

Now it was Shaws turn to be confused, she pulled them out of her mother grasped and look at the label more closely. Her mother was right… but when they weren't hers or her mothers, and she was sure that no one in her family would use an alias for medication that could only mean that those belonged to … .

“Root… .” Shaw stated numbly, as her mouth dropped open in realization.

Root had a heart problem? How had she never made that connection? Why had Root tried to hide it? Angry she left her mother standing in the kitchen walking back into her room, switching on her phone to track Root down.

The green dot, that showed Root location was moving quickly over the streets of New York, so Shaw thought about confronting Root when she was back, rather than tracking her down now.

 

Root hadn't called or texted Shaw in 2 days again and Shaw was getting more impatiently by the minute. If Root seriously had a heart problem, that meant that she was in even more danger with her 'activities' than Shaw had priorly thought. Checking the GPS ever so often Shaw had noticed that Root hadn't moved since this morning.

She had decided to track her down, since Root had seemed to be settling somewhere. It had taken almost 2 hours to get to Roots location and to her relief Root still hadn't moved. 

Shaw looked up at at the large brick building that appeared to be a Taxi company. Shaw didn't believe it for a second so she picked the lock in the back, entered the building ready to fight anyone who would catch her.

She followed the green dot attentively, entering another room, she flicked on the light, coming to the realization that it was just a storage room, but the green dot blinked furiously away, indicating that Root should be only a couple inches away from her, which was weird because there was no one here besides Shaw. 

The persian woman looked around alarmed, realizing that the GPS was pointing right in front of her, but there was just a vacuum cleaner. Coming to a shocking realization she opened the lid, pulling out the back of dust and ripped it open, dropping all its content in front of her.

Shaw leaned down, picking up the dark round devices that was the GPS that she had pinned on Roots jacket.

But if the bug was here, right in her hand… where the hell was Root?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was thinking about maybe doing a Root centered chapter next, but im not sure.. would that be something you guys would be interested in? ... But if not be sure that the next chapter will definitely reveal what the hell Root has been doing! Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

It was getting darker outside, as a yellow cap with the registration number UAX 784C was speeding along the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, surpassing multiple cars in its wake. The yellow lights of the street lamps were flashing by quickly, almost creating an constant beam of light.

Roots eyes were closed, as she tried to listen to the pouring rain outside. Her head rested against the side of the window, while she absentmindedly moved the small round device around between her thumb and index finger.

No one talked. Substituting for conversation were the voices of commentators calling action of a football game playing over the radio. But those voices, mixed with the rain splattering against the car were just a growling rumbles to Root.

The memories of her and Shaws first meeting kept occupying her mind. When she had literally stumbled over Sameen Shaw lying on the floor in front of her room trying to fall asleep.

Root had always hated humans, well apart from her mother and Hannah, they all were rotten to the core, just bad code. But when she had stumbled over Sameen, something had been different, she had felt it the moment she had looked into those dark, angry brown eyes, she hadn't been able to pinpoint what it had been for a long time.

She remembered inviting Shaw inside her room, it had blurted out of her, before her mind had been able to catch up to her mouth.

After Shaw had finally fallen asleep on her bed, Root had not waisted one more second, looking for any evidence that could link Shaw to Greer or Samaritan.

The background check was just to make sure that Shaw wasn't another mindless minion from Samaritan, whose whole purpose was to spy and manipulate her, she told herself. There was a particular moment she remembered, when she was sitting on her chair, legs resting on top of her desk, laptop on her tights when she was reading through Sameens medical files, she had just finished the part with Shaws PD, that had been diagnosed by a psychiatrist when she had been a kid. Sameen had turned in her sleep, growling and mumbling something in farsi that Root couldn't understand. A smile had spread on her lips, for some reason she had ended up listening and watching Shaw sleep for quite some time that night.

At first it had been fun to tease Shaw, especially since it was so easy to get under the womans skin. Shaw was hot and Root wouldn't have minded to get her into bed, she was only ever supposed to scratch in itch, to satisfy a need, but somehow it quickly had turned into something else. Something that Root had not anticipated. She had developed feelings for Sameen, the persian woman had somehow managed to infect her system and rewrite her code, replacing it with something else.

It had scarred her senseless. The more time she had spent with Sameen, the deeper she fell for the woman and worst of all, it had started to affect her mission. She hated Shaw for this, for the way she made her feel. Root had been ready to die for the cause, but now that she had met Shaw, who so desperately wanted to help, who Root was sure reciprocated her feelings, even if she would never say so, Root just knew, she could see it in her eyes and in her actions, everything had changed.

When Shaw had pushed her away, some part of her was more than relieved, she didn't have anything to worry about anymore, Shaw was save, and she could focus back on her mission, but another part inside her longed for Shaw and it was completely falling apart. It was like she had lost something essential that she had never had in the first place. 

Thanksgiving had supposed to have been the day, that she wanted to say goodbye to Shaw, but when it had come around Root wasn't ready, it had felt to early. She had left, but every fiber in her body had begged her to turn around and go back, to at least give Shaw a proper goodbye, even if it was more for her benefit than Shaws.

So when she had sneaked into Shaws room that night, and Shaw had suddenly woken up, there was no going back, she had a chance to say goodbye and she had took it. She hadn't been able to resist not to crawl into Sameens bed and kiss her and touch her one last time. Root knew that it was selfish, but she didn't care, this was her way of telling Shaw that she loved her and that this was their last night. She wasn't sure if Shaw would understand, but it wasn't Shaws call to make in the first place. Root had made a promise and she was not gonna let anybody down this time!

A high pitched noise suddenly buzzed through Roots cochlear implant, making her jump and open her eyes wide. Interference… This always happened when Shaw turned on the GPS signal on the bug that she was still rolling around in between her fingers. Root had to smile at this, it meant that Shaw was doing a check up on her.

She had known about the bug since day one. She hadn't really minded it, in fact she found it somewhat comforting to know that there was someone out there who seemed to care.

But now, the bug meant nothing more than potential danger to Shaw, so it was saver to get rid of it, especially after what she was about to do. She felt like she was betraying everyone. Shaw, her family,- who had welcomed her into their lives, and herself, but she couldn't worry about that now, not that it mattered anymore anyway. It meant keeping everyone save, it was the right thing to do.

“Miss this is your stop… .” the driver announced, as he put the car into park. Root nodded numbly, pulling the money out of her pockets, and leaving the vehicle, with a last sigh she dropped the small black device leaving it behind on the dirty floor of the yellow taxi cab.

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Okay, yea, so she had found the bug inside a vacuum cleaner, but that didn't really have to mean anything. It could simply mean that it had accidentally fallen off of Roots jacket, right?

Gripping the steering wheel a little more tightly, Shaw sped back to campus. It had started to get darker outside and somehow she felt like she was running out of time. Something told her that there was something wrong, that Root was about to do something severely stupid.

She quickly parked in front of their dorm, not really caring about the fact that it was a no-parking zone. She hurried inside and got to a stop in front of Roots room, she started pounding against the door with her fist, until some of the other students peered out of their own rooms to see who was making all that racket.

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she pulled the lock pick set out of her backpack and started to pick the lock of Roots door. Within a couple seconds she could her the click of the lock, and pushed the door open.

Her eyes were quick to scan over the entire room, not really finding something out of the ordinary.  
Taking a closer look though, she realized that Roots laptop was gone, along with multiple USB-drivers that were usually scattered around all over Root room.

She walked over to the desk, scanning it for any clue, that might tell her where Root went. She sat down on Roots office-chair and started to look around on the desk. She looked under the keyboard, there was nothing, than she took a stack of paper and looked through it, but most of the paper had just some code scribbled on it. She let out an annoyed huff, before letting her left hand go under desk and feel if maybe Root had hidden something there, but it was just a plain surface, leaving Shaw still with nothing. 

Sameen pushed the chair back again, trying to open the drawers to the desk, only to find them locked as well. Those locks were a bit harder to pick, but not impossible, within a couple of seconds they also clicked, and Shaw opened the first drawer, finding nothing but multiple color coded USB-drives, pens and papers lying around in it, nothing that would have needed to be locked away. Getting a bit more annoyed, she closed the drawer and opened the second one, which only seemed to consist out of coffee pads, energy cans, adderal pills, which Shaw had to admit explained a lot and multiple orange bottles also including, 'Bisoprolol' and 'Rampiril', which had the same names on them, like the ones that she had found in the trashcan in her bathroom. 

She closed the drawer, and opened the third one, which Shaw seriously had no clue of what to expect anymore. It was the only drawer that had been needly sorted, it even had walls separating the stuff inside in it. Starting from the back, Shaw pulled out various fake IDs, starting with 'Caroline Turing', 'Kelly Dyson', 'Veronica Sinclair', 'Jane von Neumann’ and ending with 'Robin Farrow'. There was another pile of IDs, right next to it, she pulled them out aswell and read, 'Hannah Karpinski', Veronique Cherau', 'Melinda Porter', 'Alice Ginsburg', 'Rose Franklin'.

This was just completely insane, disbelieve was written all over Sameens face, as she continued her search, pulling out a white envelope, thats insides consisted of at least 50.000$. Putting in back inside, she pulled out an FBI badge, with another fake ID pinned to its back, reading the name 'Augusta A. King'.

The rest she had pulled out of the drawer were another 7 colour coded USB drives, along with various SD cards, multiple credit cards, a taser and work IDs that started with small tec companies, to bigger ones like google.

Her whole body tensed up, when she closed this drawer to open the fourth one. Which consisted of two guns, multiple diplomas with different names (the ones from the fake IDs) on them, to 3 different cell phones.

With eyes wide open and a dropped jaw, Shaws let herself sink into the office- chair, trying to stomach all the information she had just gathered about Root… well Root/Samantha or who ever the hell that woman was. Was Samantha even her real name? Was it just another Alias? Maybe her real name was Robin, or Alice, or Caroline, or maybe Kelly? What else had Root kept from her? Somehow Shaw had ended up trusting Root, she regretted it now more than ever. Her hands were beginning to shake form anger, something made the insides of her stomach turn, as her hands started to ball into fists, knuckles turning white, before she slammed them against the desk in front of her, until she was able to breath a little bit more freely again.

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“Root? … Its about damn time you turned up, you should have arrived yesterday!” Daizo said angrily, pulling her inside.

The brunette step inside the room, scanning it for the rest of the boys, who hadn't seemed to have arrived yet, she turned back to Daizo nodding.

“Yea, I know, I just… I had a couple of things to take care of first.”

Daizos anger suddenly vanished, he looked away for a second nodding. 

“So...”, he said, clearing his throat,” Do you have it?”

“Yes, but first,” the hacker walked over towards the desk, pulling her backpack off of her shoulders, placing it on the chair. She unzipped the bag, rummaging around in it, pulling out a brown envelope and held it out towards Daizo. 

“You have to promise me you will take her, and you will take her somewhere save.”

“Of course I will!” he said as he took the brown envelope from Root. 

He starred at her for a moment,then he opened the envelope and peered inside, looking up at Root frowning.

“Wait a second… does that mean you're not gonna come with us?”

“You know I cant! I… I need you to promise me. Promise me you will keep her save!”

“Root… .”

“Promise me!” Root demanded, taking a step towards him.

He studied Root for a moment, feeling a lump form in his throat as he slowly nodded.

“You know I will! But, still what about you?” he asked hesitantly.

They starred at one another for a moment, until Root started to clear her throat, running a hand through her hair.

“There is something else.” Root mumbled.

Daizos ears perked up, now also taking a closer step towards her. 

“I know this isn't, … “ Root started, shaking her hand in thought.

“What Root?”

“I know I don't have the right t… .”Root broke off her sentence as the rest of the boys entered the room.

“Hey Root!”

“Finally! We have been waiting for you!”

“Hey Daniel, Jason you have the code ready?”

“Sure thing!” Jason said smiling at her.

“All in here!” Daniel said, holding out a black USB drive towards Root; “Purrs like a kitten! Probably the best code I've ever wrote! Its basically undetectable.”

“Well it better! We worked on it for 2 months to get the whole code and literally took every precaution we could! This thing is literally a ghost!” Jason interjected proudly.

“We also got the stuff you asked for.” Jason continued smiling, as he pointed at the dufflebag lying on the floor, next to the desk.

“Well and then some… .” Daniel said shrugging, opening the bag, to reveal to Root whats inside.

A smile spread on Roots lips, when she peered inside.

“So when are we leaving?” 

Roots smile slightly faltered, she stepped back towards her own bag and pulled out another 2 sets of brown envelops, holding one out towards Jason and the other towards Daniel.

“This is as far as you boys are gonna go! Everything you need is inside these envelopes.” Root explained. Turning around and filing her bag with some of the guns the boys had brought.

Jason watched her in disbelieve, his brows furred in confusion, as he started to shake his head in disbelieve.

“No! We have come this far together, we are not going to leave you now!”

Daniel and Daizo stepped next to Jason and nodded in confirmation.

Root turned around and studied the boys, a smile stretched on her lips. Yes indeed, they had come here,- to this point together, but it was up to Root to finish it. She was not gonna let the boys pay for something that she had started.

“I have done the maths...”, she said looking at everyone of them, “If we go together, there is no way we are all going to make it out of this alive, ...but if I go alone the odds improve… slightly.” Root finished faking a smile.

The whole room went quiet, as shocked eyes burned into Root. The air felt like it was getting ticker, making it harder to breath for everyone. Everybody digesting what Root had just said, poor naive boys still thought this was all a game. The four of them had been inseparable for years, especially after the last couple of months. They had spent over 4 months basically clued to each others sides, and now all this was coming to an end, making everything even more real.

“Im glad that I got to meet you Root!” Daniel mumbled, clearing his throat, finally breaking the silence. It was clear to see that he was trying to hold in tears, as he furiously tried to blink them away.

“Well is there any way, … anything we can do?” Jason pleaded, still starring at Root with a worried look. They all knew what it meant to let Root go alone, it was either going to be the 1 or the 0.

“I just need your help getting in, after that I need you to leave. Get away as far as possible, open the envelopes I gave you, use them. Thats the only way you can help me.”

“Fuck Root!” Daniel blurted out, as he rushed forward, throwing his arms around Root, bringing her into a tight hug. Roots eyes went wide in surprise, as she let her arms hang by her sides. 

After a while of awkward hugging, Daniel finally let go of her again, looking at Root for a second, before rushing out of the room.

Jason looked at the floor, as he was also trying to hold back tears. “Be careful! Promise me you call when you're out of there!”

Root looked up at him, she nodded numbly, not wanting to get into a debate she started to walk out of the room, into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water. She needed to breath and with Jason and Daizos worried eyes burning into her, it was cutting of her air supply.

“Root?” Daizo said, as he slowly entered the kitchen after Root.

“What is it you need?”

Root hesitated for a moment, before sighing deeply and facing the boy.

“If something happens to me… could you… .”

“You will be alight!” Daizo interjected quickly.

The hacker looked away, “Can you make sure they don't find out about Sameen, make sure she is save?”

Daizos brows furrowed, “You mean Shaw?”

Seeing the look on the brunettes face, he nodded quickly. “Anything you need, Ill make sure she's save.”

“I will get them out!” Root suddenly promised.

“Promise me you will make him suffer if your get a chance!” he asked anger suddenly overtaking his emotions, tears now also filling his eyes.

A smile formed on Roots lips on the prospect of getting her hands on Greer.

“Absolutely!”

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The crisp click of shoes against a hard floor echoed through the street, as Root made her way over to Decima technologies. Samaritan had its servers and companies all over, but only a couple, like this one, was keeping prisoners or as they called them 'patients' inside. 

It was really disgusting to see what they were doing to the people inside those facilities. Most of the patients were family members of the people they had forced to work for Samaritan, just like they had done with Root.

For some reason Root didn't feel nervous or scared, instead she felt excited about what she was about to do. Everything was gonna come to an end, she was gonna set the machine free and with this action she would save the world. Even though this thought still made Root shudder, she wasn't sure if human-kind should be allowed to survive, the machine had tried to teach her, but if someone would ask why she really was doing it, Root had to stay honest to herself, the real answer would be to save people like Sameen.

She took a last, deep breath and stepped through the gates of Decima technologies. Someone would think the security here was minuscule, but if you took a closer look you would know this was not the case. 

” Jason?”

“3 guards inside, cameras are being looped riiiight …. now!” Jason chirped through the com.

Root neared the glass double doors, feeling eyes already prickle all over her skin. For a second she wasn't sure if they were recognizing her, but then there was a beeping in her ear.

“Security guard 2 elevated heart beat, dilated pupils, increase in body temperature, indicating attraction to Analog Interface. Security guard 1 on the left and 3 -behind desk do not recognize Analog Interface.” The machine confirmed her, making her release a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Knowing that the machine is there, having her back, Roots felt positively bouncy with energy. Security guard 2 raked his eyes over her body, as he started walking towards her.

“Miss, I need to see you ID, before you can enter here.” the guy said.

Root gave him a big smile, showing him her ID that was dangling from her jeans pocket. He only looked at it briefly, without even really being able to identify it, he nodded smiling back at her.

“Your first day, Ms Green?” 

“Oh is it this obvious?” Root blushed, -trying not to gag. 

“Oh no Ms. I just would have remembered such a pretty face.” he flirted.

Root had a really hard time not to roll her eyes at him, she settled on smiling and looking at the ground.

She could feel the smug smile on his face, before she saw it. He walked her over to the elevators, stopping in front of them.

“Im sorry, but I cant let you take that bag with you, sort of policy.”

“Oh!” 

“Im sorry... ,but you can borrow a lock if you dont have one.”

“Maybe you can make an exception?” Root tried flirting back, taking a step closer towards him. He literally could not take it, he looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly

“Sorry, cant do that!”

Root needed to think fast, she would have settled on just shooting him in the head, but with the other security guards around, it could compromise her mission. Root groaned internally, as she decided to step closer to him, touching his upper arm, as she leaned further towards him, whispering in his ear; “How about we just say you didn't see my bag, and I will owe you a favor.” 

For some extra effect, Root let her eyes flicker downwards, before settling back on his full blown pupils. He looked like he was experiencing a stroke, as he nodded dumbly.

She stepped inside the elevator, waiting for the security guard to push his key into the lock and pressing the button for the 2nd floor. He pulled his key out again, giving Root one big smile, before he walked out of the elevator and back to his old position.

“Well that was interesting.” Jason laughed over the com.

“Jason. “ Root said annoyed;” I cant get to the wires of the elevator.”

“Already on it!” Daniel said, and then the elevator suddenly came to a stop.

For a second Root threatened that they had somehow figured out who she was and what she was doing there but then the elevator started moving again, but this time instead of going up it was going down.

“You know that once the elevator goes below floor -2 we cant help you anymore right?” 

Root nodded, even though she knew they couldn't see her. “Thanks boys! I got it from here! Make sure you destroy the rest of the tec!”

“Sure will! Take care Root!” the boys said simultaneously.

And as if on cue, the second she passed the -2nd floor the connection broke off, leaving Root alone. At least the machine was still able to reach her, to direct her to the people she was looking for.

Root looked up at the LED's that displayed the floors she was going down, when the LED signs reached floor -6 there was suddenly a loud beep coming from the speakers.

Roots whole body started to tense, as the doors opened to reveal whats on the other side.

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Shaw was angry, she hadn't felt this sort of anger in a long time, but worst than that she felt betrayed. She had trusted Root, or whatever the hell her real name was. 

Shaws fists were bloody, her body covered by sweat and her mind and heart on a rampage. 

She stopped running, resting her hands on her tights. Her chest was heaving heavily, as she tried to get enough air inside her lungs. Nothing seemed to help to ease the feeling of the pure anger she was feeling right now. It overweight everything else inside her. It was overwhelming, she needed answers... she more than deserved answers. 

She had wanted to let go, but for some reason she found herself unable to. Boxing the hell out of a punching bag didn't help and neither did running.

When she straightened up again, she realized were she was. Somehow she had made her way to the dorm, in which Root had spent most of her nights. It probably was a long shoot, but if Root was there and she would be able to punch her in the face, - to relief some of the anger she felt, it was definitely worse it.

So she made her way inside, stopping at room number 231 and started to pound her fist against the door.

It took a moment, then the door opened, revealing a boy, Shaw thought to remember his name being Daniel. Without thinking about it, she rushed inside, grabbing him by his collar and slammed his body against the wall behind him.

“Is she here?” she growled out angrily, her pupils blown wide with animalistic rage, that she wasn't able to contain anymore. Her fingernails dug uncomfortably into Daniels chest, she was sure she also had pulled out some chest hair, not that she cared much about it.

The boy looked so frightened, pure fear was written all over his face, he tried to hold his hands up, trying not to look at Shaws laser stare he looked to the side, eyes pressed close, like he would expect her to hit him in the face any second.

Shaw slammed him against the wall for a second time;” Are you deaf?”

Suddenly someone else came into view. Jason had hurried over, coming to a stop only a couple meters away from Shaw and Daniel, trying to assess the situation. He also started to put his hands up.

“Okay… How about we all calm down for a second, and you tell me whats going on?” Jason tried, his eyes trained on Shaws.

Shaw squinted at him, she too seemed to study him for a second. Shaw looked at Daniel, who still wouldn't look at her, then she let go of him. Nodding slowly as she walked towards Jason, “Okay.. .”

She walked past him, checking his shoulders on the way further inside the room.

Looking around she noticed that the place was trashed. Smashed hardware was lying around everywhere, there was also a fire burning inside a metalbin in the middle of the room, creating almost black looking smoke, making her cough multiple times. The next thing she noticed were the packed suitcases.

“Your Shaw right?” Jason asked hesitantly, still holding his arms slightly up.

Sameen turned around, raising an eyebrow at the boys standing opposite her.

“Whats going on here?”

The boys didn't answer, they only exchanged quick looks. Before having some sort of silent conversation.

Shaw was already annoyed again, she rolled her eyes, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

“Okay, how about you guys tell me where Root is?”

Again the boys started to exchange looks, Shaw wasn't gonna have any of that. She rushed forward grabbing Jason by his collar this time and slammed him against the wall. He let out a pained breath, but he seemed to be less scared of her than the other boy.

“She is save Shaw, don...t wo..rry about … .” he tried, until he saw the distant look on Shaws face.

“What do you mean save?” Shaw looked around the room again, “What are you guys up to?”  
Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle fell together, forming a clear picture. 

“She was saying goodbye… the bug, … she knew… I should've …” Shaw started to mumble.

“Where is she?” Shaw asked suddenly, starring back at Jason.

Jason shook his head,”She is okay!”

Getting more and more of clear picture about what was going on, her head snapped back up, slamming Jason against the wall a second time.

“Tell me!” Shaw demanded.

“I just talked to her, we finished our mission, she is okay!” Daniel interjected this time, not able to look at how Shaw was treating Jason.

“Prove it!”

Jasons brows furrowed, he started to study Shaw for a second, then he slapped her hand away.

“Cant,” he stretched out his arms in each direction, “We destroyed everything.”

“Then she is not save!” Shaw said through gritted teeth. How did she know Root better than the boys she spent most of her time with.

“We'll bring you to her!” Daniel said, trying to calm her down.

“No we are not!” Jason interjected quickly, his voice raised, as he punched Daniels arm.

“Ouch! What the hell Jason? We'll just drop her off.”

Jason rolled his eyes annoyed, but grabbed his stuff and walked outside the room, leaving both Shaw and Daniel.

Daniel rubbed his chest uncomfortably, before walking over to his suitecase and lifting it up.

“We should probably get out of here… Come on.”

Shaw followed Daniel outside, entering the car that Jason was waiting in. He looked angry and if looks could kill, Shaw was sure that Daniel would be dead right now.

No one spoke in the car, not even the radio was turned on. After half an hour they had made it to Daizos place. Jason was first to get out, angrily slamming the door of the car shut.

Daniel hurried after him telling him something that Shaw couldn't understand. She just followed them inside the house, coming to a stop next to the boys that were standing in the middle of the room, looking at Daizo who was hugging an elderly chinese woman. Shaw looked around also noticing a little chinese girl, who was about 6 years old, she was also hugging Daizo and his mothers legs.

“Wheres Root?” Jason asked, before Shaw had even noticed that she was not there.

Daizo looked back at them, his eyes going a bit wider as they settled on Shaw, he let go of his mother had shrugged.

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked imitating Daizos shrugging gesture.

“I.. uh.. .”

“You mean the gigantic brunette? She saved us!” the chienese girl said, looking up at Daizo.

“Yea, but where is she?”

The chinese woman suddenly spoke up, she only talked to Daizo as he was the only one of them understanding chinese, but everybody saw how Daizos eyes went wide in shock.

“Daizo?” Daniel whispered, fearing the worst.

“She uh… She went back. She told my mother to take the girls and run… She went back!” he breathed out in disbelieve.

“She said everything will be okay!” Shaw heard a low voice say. Shaw looked around, only now spotting a little girl about 4 or maybe 5 years old. Shaw couldn't be totally sure tho, the girls head had been shaved and her whole body was only consisting of bones. Doing a quick assessment of the girl she also noticed that she was bleeding on the side of her left arm, but out of everybody here, she wore the biggest smile.

“What do you mean she went back? Why would she do.. .”

“There is no more time!” Jason yelled angrily, rushing towards the computer and quickly typing some sort of code inside, until some video footage pop up on the screen.

“What are you doing Jason? They WILL FIND US! STOP!” Daizo started screaming, trying to pull Jason away from his computer.

“You will fuck up everything we have accomplished, everything Root worked towards!”

Jason quickly got up and pushed Daizo away, who fell onto the floor, and quickly got up to attack Jason again.

“I wont let Root die, if it doesn't sit right with you go, take your mother and your sister who wouldn't be here without Root and leave!” Jason suddenly yelled back, pushing Daizo away.

“Fuck!” Daniel said, rushing past Jason and Daizo, closing the windows and opening another. Pulling up even more camera footage.

“What?” everybody asked in unison.

“You know damn well why she went back!” Daniel exclaimed angrily, as his fingers raced over the keyboard.

“No she wouldnt!” 

“It cant be done! We decided against it… .” Jason interjected, shaking his head.

“What the hell are you all talking about?” Shaw asked exasperatedly. 

“She is gonna set the machine free!” Daniel said as it would be the most obvious thing in the universe.

“She what now?” Shaw asked squinting her eyes at him.

Suddenly another set of video footage appeared on the screen, which Daniel sorted through quickly. Everybody closed the distance, coming closer to see what Daniel was doing, starring at the desktop in front of them.

“There!” Daizo pointed with his finger somewhere on the desktop, pointing out a black figure. He pulled up another video, showing Root form the side, showing her typing on some sort of server computer.

“Shit! She is in the server room, how the hell did she even get in there?”

“No!” Daizo whispered, pointing to another video, showing the white haired man, that had been in the hospital, with another set of goons, following him.

“They are walking straight towards her!” Daizo said worriedly.

“Can you send her a message?”

“Root, get the hell out!” Shaw whispered, wishing her words could reach Root.

Shaw didn't hesitate, she pushed away from the desk, walking straight out of the building, but before she could get to the door, Jasons fingers enclosed around her wrist, pulling her to a stop.

It had taken everything in Shaw not to turn around an punch him in the face.

“Where do you think your going?”

“Didnt you see whats happening? They will kill her!” Shaw shot back, pushing Jason away form her, before pointing back at the monitor.

“Sorry, I promised her! I cant let you leave either!” Daizo spoke, as he put himself between Shaw and the door.

Shaw would have laughed at him, if the situation hadn't been so serious, he could try to stop her, but it wouldn't end in his favour.

“Thats not what im saying!” Jason interjected.

“We need to save her Jason, she is in it big time, who knows … .” Daniel started.

“Im not saying we are not going to save her, we will, but we need to be smart about this! Daniel can get us in, Ill come with you, let be be your cover!” Jason finished.

Shaw didn't really care much for the boys, but they were trying, so she looked around for a second contemplating. 

“You know how to handle a gun?”

Jason smiled at her, nodding,” And I've got just the right thing for us too!”

He walked over towards the dufflebag, pulling out multiple weapons, before turning towards Shaw, “Take your pick!”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Blood was gushing out of the wound on her head, the tips of her fingers started to trickle. Her ears felt muffled, like she was wearing earplugs. She could taste iron on her tongue, as her eyes started to focus on a blurry man standing a few feet away from her, aiming a blurry gun at her chest.

Root tried to block out the light coming from somewhere in front of her, but found that her arms had been restrained, along with her legs.

“Ah my dear Miss Groves!” Greer said enthusiastically.

Root blinked rapidly, trying to see were to voice was coming from. 

“It is just adorable that you think that you could destroy Samaritan with such ludicrously written code. I had expected better from you!” he scoffed.

Root let out a loud laugh, her whole body shaking from it. They had bought it, those idiots!

When Root didn't stop laughing, the brute next to her slapped her across the face, frowning when she laughed again, after spitting out some blood, and then proceeded to smirk at him.

“Want to enlighten me, what it is, you find so funny?”

When Root just smiled at him, he raised his eyebrows, getting more and more annoyed by her. He pulled a silver knife out of his pocket, slowly walking close to the restraint brunette.

“Its to late, they are already free!” Root smirked, blood still running down next to her eye.

“Oh my dear, do you really thing I care one single bit about some Chinese woman or some little girls?” he scoffed, smiling again.

Root laughed again, looking right into his eyes, “No.”

His smile suddenly fell, as the lights above started to flicker around them. He quickly tried to find the missing piece of the puzzle, as he rushed forward, grabbing Root by the front of her shirt, their faces only inches away from one another.

“What have you done, you silly girl?” he asked angrily shacking her.

Root stared back at him, a smile dancing on her lips and in her eyes.

“You lost old man!” Root smirked,spitting the rest of the blood that had formed inside her mouth in his face.

She had expected a slap in the face, but the pain was coming from somewhere else, Greer had buried his silver knife inside her tights, pressing down, making her scream out in pain.

He pushed the knife deeper and with his other hand, he wiped away the blood on his face, then grabbed a handful of Roots hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck.

“Go check if the servers are all still up!” Greer told one of his minions.

“You are gonna tell me exactly what you did!” he spat, pulling Roots head back more forcefully.

“Your to late, the code was just a sheep.” Root grinned wildly, even with the knife still buried inside her left tight she still managed to dominate the conversation.

“Sir!” the minion Greer had sent away rushed back into the room panting. The Machine… the servers … .”

“What about them?” Greer asked, slightly letting go on his grip on Root.

The guy shook his head in disbelieve, “They are empty! … And some are completely destroyed.”

Greers had snapped back to Root.

“You destroyed it?” he yelled.

Root shook her head, “I set her free!” 

If Root would have wanted to say something else, it would have never left her lips, as Greer started to punch her one time, two times, and then a third, when she was about to black out, the light started to flicker again, there was a loud ringing inside her ear, the tingling sensation went from her toes up her legs, to her chest, almost completely engulfing her whole body.

Everything seemed to slowly fade away, her body suddenly felt light, as her eyelids fluttered close, she was still smiling, hearing a gun go off somewhere far away. 

“Just finish her!” Greer yelled frustrated, leaving the room, wiping his bloodied fists on a towel. Root could see a blurry form coming to a stand in front of her as a blurry black gun was lifted up, pointing right at her head.

The last thing Root remembered was a beeping coming through her cochlear implant, but Root wasn't able to decipher it, as her head rolled to the side, the last thing she heard was a gun being fired, before blackness finally enveloped her and took her away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I had wanted to make the chapter all Root, but i felt like we would miss Shaws pov in this chapter, so next on is probably going to be 99% Roots pov (explaining how Root got involved with Samaritan).


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow! I do apologize for the very long wait. I hope you guys like the new chapter, it really kind of isn't anything like the ones before, but i think/hope very informative and was worth the wait. I don't even know if someone is still reading this but here you go!

A little girl was sitting on a bench in the hallway leading to the E.R.. Her blond hair was hanging in a curtain around her face, shielding her from the world behind it. Her head was tilted downwards at the ground, while she was swinging her legs, -that couldn't quite reach the floor yet, back and forth.

When a group of doctors left one of the rooms opposite her, she peeked out through the curtain of hair and watched them walk down towards the nurses front desk.

The smell of disinfectant and sweat followed them, as they passed her, making the girl scrunch up her nose. None of them payed her much attention, she only noticed that one of the nurses occupying the front desks eyes ever so often drifted over towards her, keeping an watchful eye on her.

She didn't like to be watched, but Sam was glad that the woman had decided not to go talk to her and had chosen the lesser evil of the two and settled on watching her from a distance.

After a moment the girl sighed sleepily and rubbed her sore eyes with the heel of her hand. She had been sitting on the cold, hard metal bench for over half an hour, when suddenly another woman walked up to her.

“Samantha? ...Oh I knew it was you.” a familiar female voice said. She recognized the woman right away. The woman was living in the house across the street from them. Sam had never liked her. She always had that condescending smile, that I am better than you look on her face, or so her mother had once said.

Sam looked up at her, slowly sizing the woman up and down. She knew what her neighbor thought of her and her mother. The woman had a disliked for either of them, especially since they didn't have a lot of money. It wasn't a secret that her mother could barely afford Sam's clothes or all of the things they needed. Still the worst thing about this woman was, that she acted on way towards you and as soon as you would turn your back on her, she would stab you in the back. 

“Are you alone? Where is your mother?” The woman asked, fake concern lazing her voice.

Sam hated that woman, she hated her whole being and the hypocrisy behind her words. She didn't care why Sam was here alone, or where her mother really was, the truth was all she really wanted was something new to gossip about.

Sam was very shy and she never really liked talking to other people anyway, so she decided on looking away and not saying anything at all, hoping the woman would just leave her alone.  
Most people underestimated her anyway, no one ever payed her much attention, but she noticed everything. She had her eyes and ears all over the place.

“Where is your mom? Did she leave you alone out here?” the woman tried again, as she peered around, obviously trying to get a glimpse of something interesting. 

Sam studied her closely again before she gave the woman a slight smile.

“Im not scarred!” she answered, looking at the closed door across from her. 

The woman followed her line of sighed, before she stupidly pointed her finger at the door asking: “Is she in there?”

Sam nodded slowly.

“Oh did something happen? Is she sick?” the woman continued asking nosily, taking a closer step towards Sam, trying not to miss anything the girl might say. 

Sam stopped swinging her legs, as she looked up at her neighbors calculating stare. She slowly pushed herself off of the bench, before slowly walking towards the room her mother was in.

When the woman wanted to say something else, the door behind the girl suddenly creaked, revealing her mother, followed by a female doctor.

Sam quickly threw her arms around her mothers leg, burring her face inside her mothers clothes. 

Ms. Groves stroked her fingers through her daughters hair, before lifting her daughter onto her hips, who quickly hid her face in between her mothers hair and neck.

“Hello Erin.” The woman said, studying her neighbor with an raised eyebrow.

“Hello Angela! ...Thank you for watching Sam.” Ms Groves said politely with a smile, that only her daughter could tell was faked.

“Oh it was no problem, I actually just visited my son. He is in his last year of becoming a doctor you know.”

“Thats really great. … We really need to get going though! Thank you again.” Ms Groves said, as she started to walk away from the other woman.

“You really shouldn't leave your daughter out here alone next time.” The woman suddenly blurted out.

Sam could feel her mothers hands ball into fists, but she kept walking ignoring the womans remark.

“I'm sorry Sam, I really shouldn't have left you all alone. Its just… you don't need to see any of this… .” her mother said when they entered the parking lot, getting slightly emotional. 

“Its ok momy!”

“No Sweeety it really isn't. There are things I want to protect you from, but I know that sooner or later that wont be in my hands anymore.”

When the girl tried to look at her mothers face again, her mother quickly turned her head away, focusing on something in the distance, hiding the tear on the side of her eye, that threatened to fall.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shaw was breathing heavily as she rushed down a flight of stairs. Her legs hurt and her lungs were burning. She was kneecapping people left and right, when she finally heard Daniel over the comb directing her to take a right turn. 

Her mouth went try, and her eyes went wide as she looked on in actual horror as some lackey pointed a gun right at Roots head. It felt like everything was happing in slow motion, as she saw the gun being aimed right between the brunettes eyes and the fingers slowly curling over the trigger.

Shaw was quicker, the bullet from her gun was already logged in his head, as she watched him crumble to the ground. 

Another bullet was shooting past her, when she suddenly felt a pair of hands encircling her arm, pulling her into an hiding position.

“Is… is she… ?” Jason tried asking, also breathing heavily.

“I don't know!” Was the only responds he got from Shaw, who's face had turned into steal, her voice making him shiver as a cold sweat ran down his back, at the mere thought of Root.

“Cover me!” 

Shaw ran to next cover, shooting another two guys, before finally being able to make her way to an hopefully only unconscious Root.

Shaw stopped right in front of Root, quickly taking in her state. Her fingers started to shiver, as she slowly brought them up to Roots neck, checking for a pulse. This was weird, she never had shacking hands before.

Relieve rushed through her body, as she could feel the beating of Roots heart beneath her fingertips. She allowed herself to release the air that had lodged itself on the way out, before quickly shacking the brunettes shoulders in an attempt to wake her up. Shaw could hear more people running down the stairs into their direction and in a last attempt of waking Root up, - and maybe because she kinda deserved it, -she slapped her across the face, but still there was no reaction from her.

“Root come on… .” Shaw breathed out, as she ripped the lower part of her shirt and tied it just over the wound Greer had inflicted on Roots tight, she was loosing a lot of blood. 

Sameen pulled out a knife, cutting Roots hands and feet loose. Bullets were quickly flying past them again and Shaws fingers buried themselves into Roots shirt, pulling her off the chair, as she quickly climbed ontop of Root, shielding her from the incoming bullets.

“JASON!” Shaw hissed out angrily.

“Sorry… I got you … .” he shouted back, shooting the suits that had just entered.

“Get over here!” Shaw yelled angrily, dragging Root behind a flipped desk.

Jason rushed over, quickly pressing his back to the desk. “Shit Shaw! I'm out of ammo… .”

“Give me your belt!” Shaw said annoyed rolling her eyes at him.

“What?”

“NOW!”

Jason quickly took it off, handing it to Shaw who secured it over Roots tight, finally being able successfully stop the bleeding for the time being.

“You take her… Ill cover your ass!” Sameen directed as she pushed past Jason, taking cover on the opposite site, taking out 2 more of the attackers.

Jason scooped Root up, carrying her bridal style, waiting for Shaws directions. 

They quickly made their way down a long corridor, Jason carrying Root, as Shaw was leading them down the hall. 

“STOP!” they both heard Daniels voice shout over the coms.

It was to late, as another group of minions entered the corridor, shooting right at them.

“Ill take them out you take a left with Root… get her out of here!” Shaw shouted , as she quickly got out of the hiding place, shooting at the guys, leaving no room for arguments.

Jason quickly ran down the left corridor with Root still in his arms, before he could feel the ground shake under him. A second later there was a loud noise coming from somewhere, leaving him with only a loud beeping sound in his ears and a sudden pain in his knee, as he fell forward, ontop of Root.

He groaned in pain as he tried to turn around and look at were the bullet had come from. Dust was making him cough and wipe his eyes, as they settled on a blurry figure in front of him. Realizing that he had no more fire power left, he lifted his arms up in the air, with horror he suddenly realized that he had failed not only Sameen but also Root.

“Oh I really hoped it would be me to get to shoot your sorry ass!” the blurry figure said as he raised his gun again.

Another shoot rang, this time making him almost black out. The sound had come right by his left ear, the ringing sound making him roll his eyes in an attempt to stay conscious. 

He furiously blinked his eyes, before looking around, seeing Root who had a gun pointed next to his head.

“I told you not to come!” Root said angrily, but had a smirk gracing her lips.

There were suddenly 2 more men behind them, but before he could even open his mouth Root had swung around and shoot them both.

Mouth hanging open Jasons eyes went from the minions on the ground back to Root and then to the minions again.

“You did it… didn't you?” 

“There is no time!” Root drawled trying to push herself off the ground without using her injured leg.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Shaw had managed to kill the last minion and quickly tried to follow into the direction Jason was headed with Root in his arms. She could hear a loud banging sound, followed by shacking walls and floor. She tried to steady herself, but the ceiling started to come down, so she proceeded to run down the dark corridor as fast as she could.

Shaw rounded another corner, when a blast from somewhere above made her loose her footing and the floor underneath her gave out. Shaw fell down a couple meters, before landing on the hard ground with a groan. 

Shaw coughed multiple times, as the dust made it hard for her to breathe. She slowly started to push herself off of the ground when there was a sudden hand burring itself in her hair and someone pulled her up from the floor and forcefully threw her into the concrete wall opposite them.

Her already bruised arms caught most of the impact, but there was another set of hands, that grabbed her by the front of her t-shirt pulling her into another direction, before a man punched her across the face. Shaw spat blood, it took her a moment to catch her breath, but when she finally did she brought her leg up kicking him in the balls and watched as he fell onto the floor dragging her with him. She elbowed him right in his face, when suddenly a cold hard gun was pushed against the back of her head.

“Wouldn't do that If I was you!” a woman spat, as more people started to surround her, pointing guns at her. 

Great that was not how she had envisioned to go down. Her mother was gonna be really pissed about that!

Shaw had no other choice than to accept her awaiting fate. Slowly she raised her hands into the air and the lights started flickering again. 

The men pointing guns at her suddenly scrambled to the floor in screaming pain, trying to reach for their ear-pieces. Shaw quickly tried to look around, searching for a way out, but in a blink of an eye there was nothing left to see but blackness.

Shoots started to ring and the only thing Shaw could see were bolts of lightning coming from different directions. 

After a moment the lights flickered on again. Shaw quickly got to her feet, ready to fight anyone who was in reaching distance.

All the guys that had a gun pointed at her head previously, were now lying on the ground, some groaning and some dead. Confused Shaw looked around, her eyes coming to a stop at Root, who was leaning heavily against Jason, who also seemed to lean against Root for some support, each of them had their guns out.

The moment their eyes met, Root pushed herself away from Jason and started to limb towards her. Root looked awful, she was even paler than usual, which Shaw honestly thought wasn't possible. The brunettes eyes started to flutter and her legs seemed to have lost all sense of direction.

“Shaw .. you shoul.. sh...nt… b… ree… .” She slurred out, as her eyes suddenly rolled upwards and her eyes went shut from exhaustion.

Shaw quickly rushed forward, rescuing Root from dropping hard onto the ground.

“Root! Shit!” Shaw drawled, quickly brining her arms under Roots legs and throwing one of Roots arms over her shoulders, lifting her up.

“We need to get out of here Daniel!” 

Shaw just only now realized that she had lost her earpiece, but she quickly followed behind a limping Jason.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Sam was running, her chest was heaving heavily and her lungs were already burning from the lack of oxygen entering her blood stream. Her feet were racing over the pavement and her muscles started to shiver , almost on the verge of giving out. She rounded another corner, until her long legs wouldn't carry her any further. She broke down, still taking in deep breaths.

She had been lucky, when her legs had given out, she had only scraped her shins on the stone floor and some parts of her elbow. She quickly secure the stolen cake inside her bag, dusting herself off before slowly walking the rest of the way home. 

 

“Mom?”

“Hey Sweety!” Her mother said, smiling widely, as Sam crawled onto the bed giving her a hug.

“Happy Birthday!” 

“Thank you sweety!” her mom whispered, wincing slightly, as she tried to sit up.

Sam tried to ignore the pain her mothers face was showing and tried to distract her as she pulled the cake out of her backpack. 

“Oooh Sam! You shouldn't have!” she breathed, looking at the cake as tears stared to well up in her eyes.

Sam just smiled at her, cutting of a slice and handing it over to her mom.

“Wait! This is from Perrys… thats… that is way to expensive... How did you pay for this?”

“Don't spoil it!”

“Your such a brat! You know... I should probably ground you for this!”

“Probably!”

“Stealing is bad Sam!”

“I know.”

“Sam… .”

“Yes Mom I know.. I just… I overheard Angela saying that you really used to love the cake they serve at Perrys and… I guess I just wanted to see you smile… .” Sam said, looking at her hands.  
Both of them went silent, looking everywhere but not each other.

“I'm sorry that I cant be … that I'm not… I never wanted this for you.”

“No, Its not your fault!”

“I just wish I could give you more.. you deserve so much more Sammy...”

“No mom.. I … “ Sam began, when her mother started bursting into tears, not able to hold them back anymore. Sam quickly took the cake away from her, before climbing back onto the bed and hugging her mother. They held onto one another for some time, until Sam fell asleep with her head leaned on her mothers shoulders.

 

Sam was pulled out of her sleep, when she felt something trash against the side of her body, almost throwing her off the bed. Sleepily she rubbed the side of her eyes, before pushing herself into a sitting position, only to lean into something warm and wet.

“Mom..?” she asked, as she leaned over to switch the lamp on. 

Her mother was convulsing next to her, coated in her own puke as her whole body was trashing around 

“MOM!” Sam yelled, anxiety rushing through her as she turned her mother over, so she wouldn't swallow her own puke and then she ran to dial an ambulance.

The convulsing started to slow down, but her mother wouldn't react to her, so she stroked her hair out of her face and waited for the medics to arrive.

Thankfully they hadn't taken very long. The medics had quickly loaded her mother into the ambulance and left Sam alone for the night. It wasn't the first time that had happened. Sam went back inside, stripping out of her puke drained clothes and started to clean her mothers bedroom.

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Sure Sam loved her mother, but sometimes it just got to much. Going home meant finding something for her mother to eat, to maybe help her get to the toilet, to maybe having to shower her, to clean the bed of more puke and many more things to do. So when she felt like the walls around her were crashing in on her and she couldn't breathe anymore, she went to the library. It was quiet and nobody spoke to her or annoyed her.

The kids in her school didn't like her very much, but the feeling was mutual. Sam hated all of them, all she wanted was to finish school and get out of this town, but with everything going on she had a feeling that that would never happen. That was until she met a girl named Hannah. She was gorgeous and smart and she liked Sam for who she was. She didn't care that Sam wasn't wearing some cool, or expensive clothes or had the newest school books or a cool new bike.

Hannah was one of the popular kids and Sam really didn't understand why Hannah was hanging out with her so much, but Sam was never gonna mention it, as long as she got to spent time with her.

As Sam became more infatuated with Hannah, the more she snuck into the library after school, telling her mother she had a lot of homework and that it was easier to do it in there.

Sam often watched Hannah play Oregon Trail from afar. When talking to her, she always found herself being a little smug, she wanted so desperately to be cool around Hannah, but for some reason she always ended up being rude, but thankfully Hannah never really seems to mind.

One day, when Hannah left relatively early, Sam walked over towards the computer, wanting to check out that game Hannah was always playing, and after her 2nd death of dysentry, she felt like there had to be some way to cheat the game. She started trying different key combinations and sure enough she had skipped a level, earning multiple points and food.

Cheating such a boring game somehow made her feel good, there had to be other things she could do with this game, so she tried to find a couple more combinations. After only some minutes she had more points in the game than anyone before her, making her feel more than a little bit smug about it.

Little Sam was getting more than a little intrigued by this, so she started looking around in the computer section in the library. She quickly read through some different books and tried using the knowledge that she had gathered. She felt powerful. She felt like she could do anything. After trying out some more things on the computer and getting into the physics of it, it had not taken her long to get into the computers core and become Root. With this knowledge, with this computer she wasn't a little girl anymore. She could do things, people would only dream of. It was so easy, to manipulate the system, electrical waves, mathematics, physics, those were things that made sense to her.

After that night, no one could get her away from the computers anymore, they made her feel alive. They made sense to her, were people wouldn't. Online she could be who she wanted to be, someone she would inspire to be. She had become Root.

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It had gotten darker outside and Ms Russell had told her to leave, because she wanted to close up the library. It was the first time that she had gotten home and no one was shouting her name. The lights were also switched off, which in itself was kind of odd.

“Mom?” Sam called out, pushing the wheelchair out of the way.

Silence.

“Mom?” Sam tried again, switching the lights on and walking into her mothers bedroom.

Her eyes went wide in shock, when she looked at the empty bed in front of her. She quickly rushed into the bathroom, also finding it empty. She picked up the phone, looking a the last call that had gone out, looking on in horror as she saw the 911 number.

Tears were prickling in the side of her eyes, as fear settled deep inside her chest. She grabbed her keys and made her way to the hospital in Kingsville.

 

Arriving at the hospital a nurse lead her to the intensive care unit, where her mother was staying right now. The nurses had refused to tell her what was going on with her mom, but allowed her to stay the night, because she had nowhere else to go.

Sam looked on in horror when they brought her inside her mothers room. She had been put into a hospital gown and had tubes going into her arms and a endotracheal tube going into her trachea. The monitor above her bed was beeping in a steady rhythm.

Sam walked numbly towards her mother, slowly touching her arm.

“Mom?”

“Mom? … Im so sorry.. I should've come home … I… .” she chocked out, as tears started streaming down her face, she closed the distance and buried her face in between her mothers neck and shoulder.

“Im sorry!”

After a while, when she was done crying she got up and checked the corridor for nurses and doctors, who seemed to all be gathered around in the kitchen talking. She crept silently over towards one of the computers and started hacking, checking what had actually happened to her mother.

 

The next morning she was woken up by a nurse who had flicked on the lights, rudely announcing that she had to get up now. After Sam had cleaned herself up, she walked back into her mothers room, only to be greeted by an older woman with long gray hair, standing next to her mothers doctor.

“Samantha! Please come in… There are some things we need to talk to you about.” the doctor started, walking over towards the door and closed it, pointing to a chair, indicating for Sam to sit herself down.

“So Sam… I know this must not be easy for you. And I have to apologize that you seemed to have run under our radar. Im sorry that you had to take care of your mother all by yourself, but I guess you do understand that you are not able to perform … in a way your mother needs. Her condition is getting worse and she is in need of multiple injections every day. She also stood under a lot of stress and a couple things happened that we had to sedate her. But you don't have to worry about her for now, we have excellent nurses and doctors here taking good care of her.” he said, looking over towards the older woman.

“You must be wondering what Mrs. Molly is doing here!” he proceeded.

Sam stayed silent, watching him carefully.

“Mrs Molly is delegated of the child services in our hospital, and as you know, your mother is not able to take care of you in the state she is in. So you will be leaving with Mrs Molly today. She will take you to foster home, so you… .”

“Im not going anywhere with her! I can take care of myself .. thank you!” Sam started, feeling a tightness in her chest.

“Im afraid you don't have a choice Samantha!”

Sam hated the way the guy said her name, she wanted to punch him, to get on a terminal and destroy him, but she knew there was nothing she could do for now, other than nodding and complying with what he said.

 

After she was assigned to a family, she quickly bolted, luckily she knew the broken home she had been brought into, didn't care much about her and wouldn't even report it if she never came back. 

After a week she overheard a nurse talking to another one, that child services are looking for her again. That night she broke into the library, hacking into the child services database, deleting all information they had on her.

Sam had lived by herself for over a months now, hacking some random ATMs to get some money to be able to afford some food and the stuff she needed to stay alive. 

They finally had taken her mother off the sedatives and she was finally awake again, but she was to weak to even get up by herself. She had been moved towards a normal station now though, so Sam could visit her whenever she wanted to.

Sam almost visited her everyday, always taking some books from the library with her. She curled herself up in one of the seats next to her mothers bed and read them out loud. She could tell her mother always thought they were extremely boring and mostly had no idea what the hell they were about, but it always made her happy. 

One day when Sam had just finished another book, one of her mothers assigned doctors entered their hospital room. He seemed very young and was followed by a nurse, who was almost wearing a more horrifying look on her face than him. He gestured for Sam to sit down and when she did he took forever to say anything at all. 

After another moment of silence the nurse took the lead and finally managed to say something.

“Sam… there is something we need to talk to you about. We already talked with your mother about it, but we are not sure she really understands.”

Sam swallowed and it felt impossible to take another breath. When the doctor still didn't manage to get a word out, the nurse released a breath, looking away and said: “Sam, ...we cant afford to have your mother here any longer. Her bank account is empty and … our hospital is going to throw her out, if we don't receive payment in the next 72 hours.”

The unspoken, your mother will die painfully, because you don't have enough money to afford her medical care, was hanging unsaid around them.

“You said I have 72 hours to get the money?” Sam quickly asked, as an idea was forming inside her head.

The nurse nodded, not really having the heart to tell the girl that she was never going to be able to afford the amount of money her mother needed.

After the two left, Sam didn't waste more time, she rushed to the library, gathering all books she could find on credit cards and bank servers, anything she could use.

After gathering everything from the books there was to gather, she did a quick background check on everyone that worked for the bank in Bishop. She started to hack herself into the bank, creating a fake account with the name Joanna Neumann. 

Transferring money from white rich dudes was almost as easy as it gets. They wouldn't miss the small amounts that she transfered to multiple accounts over towards Joannas, until it was untraceable, and continuing transferring the small amounts over towards her mothers.

The doctors and nurses didn't ask her where she suddenly got all the money from, as long as it kept coming, the hospital also didn't seem to care.

Root also gets away with it for almost 8 months. Her mother is getting better, she even managed to sit herself down on the edge of the bed again.

One day an old man showed up, he was wearing a black suite, and Root instantly knew that something was wrong, when she saw him standing in the doorway. Her mother seemed oblivious though, she did sometime say that she had no idea why they hadn't thrown her out yet.

“Ah, you must be Ms Groves!” the man said in a weird monotone voice.

Her mother smiled at him and nodded. “Yes, How can I help you?”

“Well I work for the bank and I am here because of some unusual behavior regarding your bank account. “ the man said.

Sam quickly got up, eying him angrily. 

“Oh really? Why… I know I don't have a lot, and … .” her mother started to say.

“You don't work for the bank!” Sam interjected before her mother said something she shouldn't.

“What makes you said that my dear?” the man said, a smile suddenly spreading on his lips.

When she stayed silent, the man nodded slowly. 

“You know that … is illegal right?” he said raising his eyebrows.

Shit! He cant know! There was no way he could know! She made damn sure of it! 

“Maybe we should talk outside Samantha!” 

She squinted at him, before slowly nodding and following him outside. She quickly closed the door behind them, before angrily looking at the men standing in front of her.

“You don't know anything!” she spat.

“Oh... but I do! You don't think I know the fake Joanna Neumann account transversing unholy amount of money to your mothers… Anyway that doesn't matter when you go to jail… .”

“Im not going to jail.. .” 

“Sure… You think only because you're under 18 the law cant touch you? Oh my sweet girl you are so wrong. Who do you think is going to take care of your mother once the the money fraud you have been doing gets out?”

“What do you want?” 

“Im so glad you asked, my dear Samantha!”

Anger was building up inside her, making her clench her hands into fists.

“My name is Root!” she spat into his face.

A smile suddenly stretched on his face, nodding slowly.

“Clever girl… I do want something… I have been looking for someone with your skills. I want to offer you a job.”

Confusion washed over Roots face, trying to figure out what the hell that man really wanted from her.

“And why the hell should I listen to you?” 

“Well.. Firstly because we will transfer your mother into one of our own facilities, where she gets the best care that is out there, she will have nurses 24 taking care of her. Secondly you will earn your money and not steal it! And third, ...well you will have to move into one of our facilities, but you will have your own room.”

“And what are you getting out of this?” Root asked skeptically.

“You will work for me. Thats it. “

“What kind of work?”

“The one you have been doing for almost a year now. You can still go to school here, life like you have, the only difference is that your mother will be in better care and you can visit her whenever you want, you will have a different home, that you will be sharing with some people who are like you, and you will do some computer stuff for me … hacking obviously included.”

“Where is the catch?” Root still asked skeptically.

Greer smiled, obviously liking the skeptic way of Root.

“There really is no other catch than, you, doing some computer work, for me.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The way outside of the facility was painful. Shaws body was aching and her arms felt numb, as she was still carrying Root. 

Jason was still walking ahead of them, talking with Daniel, but Shaw couldn't hear what they were talking about.

Shaw could feel Roots eyes starring at her and after a while, she shook her head in annoyance.

“Are you gonna say anything, or are you just gonna stare?”

“Are you an angel?” Root slurred.

Shaw just scoffed, rolling her eyes annoyed, but could barely hide the slight smile spreading on her lips.

“-Am I in heaven?”

When Shaw just looked straight forwards, not saying anything Root smacked her lips together and started smiling.  
“- I must be … !” 

“What makes you say that?” Shaw finally asked.

“… because you are here!” Root whispered smiling, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Suddenly the brunettes face contorted into pain, “Its so cold!” she started slurring, before her body started to shiver in Shaws arms and her eyes fell shut again.

“Root! As much as I wish you would shut up, you need to stay awake ok?”

“…. Root?” Shaw asked again, feeling slightly distressed with the amount of blood the brunette had already lost.

Root started whispering incoherently again, “No.. a … Sam… meen… pl..a..eease… d..n..goo.. I … umgf ou.”

Shaw tried to listen, but when she looked down at Root again, she saw the hackers head roll back against her collarbone.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Light was blinding Root, as she tried to open her eyes. There was a constant beep, a sound she would recognized anywhere. She was in the hospital. 

“Look at these chemicals. Do you even read the labels?” she could hear Jason say.

But no.. Jason shouldn't be here! He should be somewhere save, anywhere, but not here around Root. Did that mean that she failed? Did th…

“No.. I read 'pie'. The rest is just “blah, blah, blah!”.” she could hear another familiar voice say annoyed.

No… No, this couldn't be. She rapidly blinked her eyes open, trying to sit up, only to feel dizzy and receive a loud beeping sound and another robotic voice telling her to stop, while a strong hand pressed her back down onto the bed.

“Easy Root!” she could hear Daniel say.

When Root didn't stop trying to look around, trying to find the enemy, there was a sudden new set of stronger hands holding her down.

“Lay down god dammit or you will pull your stitches… .” Angry brown eyes looked at her and something inside her felt like it was dying a little.  
She was sure she had never seen Shaw look at her like this, like she was someone else.  
-But she was here, that must count for something.

“Sameen...” was all she could breath out, but Shaw only rolled her eyes turning away from her again.

“My knight in shining a… .”

“Seriously shut up !” Shaw said annoyed.

“Sweety… .”

“Don't Sweety me … .” Shaw shoot back angrily.

Daniel and Jason looked at each other for a second, before they started to shove each other out of the room, giving the two women some needed space.

“You don't get to do this …I don't even know who you are.” Shaw started snarling.

Root squinted at the other woman, trying to decipher what was going on.

“Are you mad that I snook on the Death Star and took out the Emperor without you?”

“What?” Shaw asked confused.

“Star Wars?”

“You must have hit your head harder than I thought… .”  
Shaw started to roll her eyes again, making her way toward the door.

“Yea.. ok Sam. Shit.. Sorry, Wait… Please!”

Shaw stopped, but didn't turn around. Realizing that Shaw wasn't going to say anything Root went on.

“I guess, I just realized that there is no righteous path in doing this, its just ...us, trying to do our best in a world where it is far to easy to do your worst… and I couldn't risk you, ...or any of them… for this, I made the decision and I would do it again.”

“You almost got yourself killed… again. If I had arrived only one second later you would've… .” Shaw shook her head angrily again, still keeping her distance from Root. 

“I had a plan B.” 

“Well maybe next time you should try plan D for dumbass!”

“Shaw… .”

“No Root, or whatever your real name is...” Shaw said, shacking her head, “Im done… !

Shaw dropped back down on the chair next to Roots bed, shoving some of the left over pie inside her mouth.

“What?” Root asked confused, painfully pushing herself into a sitting position.

“What do you mean?” Root asked again.

Shaw continued chewing, ignoring Root for now, when someone else entered the room.

“Hey Shaw, Johns here! They wont let him in with the little one… .” Daniel said, walking inside the room.

Shaw nodded, stuffing the rest of the pie inside her mouth, before grabbing her jacket and leaving without saying anything to Root.

Root could feel Daniels eyes burning on her, she looked away, hoping he would just leave too.

“Wow, she seemed angry, I mean I guess thats a primary aspect of her personality, that I have learned to ignore but.. “

Root only shook her head, blinking rapidly, she stroked her hand through her brunette hair.

“Im kidding! Don't worry about her! She'll come around!” Daniel said slowly, walking over towards Root, turning the monitor off, knowing how much Root hated that sound.

“You guys should be miles away from here!” Root said accusingly.

Daniel just smiled at her, “No worries, Jason and I installed some surprises in their systems too and the machine has actually contacted us too. We are save for now, and so is she.”

Root suddenly looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes again.

“How is she?”

“She is fine, a little shaken up, but she seemed to do better than the rest of us. Shaw checked her injured arm, the one you cut the chip out of and she stitched the girl up herself. They're pretty cute together… , don't tell Shaw I said that tho!” he added smiling.

A small smile graced Roots lips, before it faded away again. She closed her eyes, loudly releasing a breath.

Daniel looked her up and down, before licking his lips, “You should have seen Shaw earlier, when you were unconscious, I really thought she was gonna fight the whole hospital staff. I never seen someone fight like she did. I mean, she carried you almost all the way over here by herself and without her, I really don't know where any of us would be right now... And please don't tell her I said that either, but I really think you scarred the grab out of her.”

“Oh and uuh Jason mentioned that someone trashed your collegeroom, my guess is that it was Shaw… . Nothing was taken, but… well they went through all your stuff, including the fake IDs.”

“I should have guessed you guys would eavesdrop… .” Root said annoyed.

“Sorry.. .” Daniel laughed, sitting down in the chair Shaw had sat in a couple minutes ago.

 

Root had been on the verge of sleep, when a sudden beeping sound rang in her ear, making her flinch. 

“Primary Asset Sameen Shaw, arrived safely at home with subject 4.” sounded the robotic voice of the machine.

“You made her your asset?” Root asked, after a moment of disbelieve.

“Yes, Ms Sameen Shaw agreed to work for me.”

“She knows about you?”

“Correct. She has proven herself to be quite a useful asset.”

Root stayed silent, trying to understand what the machine was telling her and after another long moment of silence she shifted slightly, before asking.

“What are we going to do with her now?”

“Primary Asset is taking care of her for now. Subject 4 is to be brought to Mr. Frey after he has returned from is business trip in Spain.”

“Are you really sure he will take her in?”

“Calculating response… There is a 77% chance of a positive response.”

Root looked around, only now realizing that Daniel and Jason hadn't left. They both were lying curled up in the seats on either side of Roots bedside. 

There was another beep coming from the machine, 

“Primary Asset threatened Daniel and Jason with torture, in case something were to happen to analog interface.”

A slight smile spread across Roots face, before she shook her head in disbelieve.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your nice comments! Im glad to hear that people are still reading the story... So here you go with the next chapter, I hope you like it.

Shaws body was coated in Roots and her own blood, the iron smell and taste that it left behind, invaded her senses. Shaw could barely remember how they got to the hospital, the moment Root had collapsed in her arms, her mind had tapped into her medical training, while some sort of uncommon, animalistic uncertainty had gripped her chest. 

After some threatening from Shaws side, they finally brought Root into on of their trauma-rooms. Sameen and the boys had only waited for a couple of minutes, when suddenly a new group of doctors were rushing towards the trauma-room they had brought Root into.

Shaw knew that there was nothing she was able to do, all she could do now was wait. And the waiting was excruciating, after a while she could feel her knee begin to jiggle in impatience and frustration and translated the impulse into movement again, standing and beginning to pace around the room. 

The seconds painfully stretched on like hours. It felt like the doctors were playing some sort of cruel joke on her.

A nurse returned, coming to a stop in front of Roots room, she looked around and the boys quickly got up. The woman walked over to them and looked back down at her clipboard.

”Are you here for Sinclair, Veronica?”

Shaw looked over towards Daniel, not sure as who they had signed Root in, but Daniel just nodded, panic apparent on his face.

“Yes thats us… what.. how… .” he started, only to be silenced by the nurse again. She put her hands up trying to calm them down, before she spoke up again. 

“Im sorry, but Im not authorized to give any sort of information about the state she is in, im just here to tell you that she was moved into surgery, she lost a lot of blood, and had a gunshot wound in her stomach, the bullet is still lodged in her, and we are going to get it out, because if it should move further, it could leave some severe damage behind. I… She… .” the nurse cleared her throat and looked down at her clipboard.

“Im sorry, but I have to ask this, does Ms Sinclair take drugs, like Heroin or...?”

Shaw wanted to grab the nurse by the collar, demanding everything she knows. She knew more than she was telling them, but just when her anger started to beat her self control, Daniel quickly answered the woman.

“No why? Absolutely not! Please can you just tell us how she is.. ?”

“I.. well… .” the nurse began, nodding her head, not sure if she should rather stay silent.

“Well, Ms Sinclair has some track marks on her arms and her heart is really, really damaged. Her heart had stopped beating, but we were able to get her back! After analyzing some of the blood work that already is in our computers we could tell that she already takes medicine for it. But that is not going to be enough, we will have to implant a ICD or her heart is not able to perform the way it is supposed to.”

Daniel starred the woman in shock and Shaw just starred at her numbly. The nurse nodded, looking at each one of them, before turning around and vanishing behind the white doors again.

All Shaws anger was gone, replaced with a feeling Shaw didn't recognize, this sort of constriction felt like bullets pierced her lungs. She couldn't breathe. This alien sensation wracked her entire body, Shaw couldn't stand it, she hated it, she didn't understand it. She needed to punch something, to not feel, she numbly walked away from the boys, a multitude of thoughts buzzed about her head, like a hoard of angry wasps. 

Suddenly she could feel slender fingers wrap themselves around her wrist, pulling her to a stop. Shaw looks questioningly down at the girl, who started to point at her stomach. 

“Stop! You're bleeding!”

Shaw squinted at the girl, her eyes slowly following the girls pointed finger, stopping at her black shirt that was soaked in her own blood. She pulled at the fabric, pushing it up to look at the skin underneath. Blood was purring out of her wound and for the first time since they had arrived at the hospital, Shaw could feel the sting of the bullet that hours ago had grazed her skin and like that wasn't enough, it felt like all the adrenaline that had been running through her system a second ago had all but vanished.

Shaw reanimated, feeling her hands and legs starting to shake, as exhaustion washed over her body, making her painfully aware of the soreness of her muscles and bones.

Shaw had barely noticed that she started to sway slightly, only when she could feel that the little girl tried to steady her body. Shaw shook her head, trying to stop the dizziness. She walked numbly into one of the medical rooms, resting some of her weight on the little girl, who still tried to support her.

Shaw sat down on one of the examine tables, putting some pressure on her wound with her free hand.

“Can you get me some disinfectant and.. uh, swaps and bandages.” 

The girl quickly nodded, picking up everything she was told they needed. Sameen started to take off her shirt and examined her wound.

Besides the constant stream of blood purring out of it, the wound didn't look to bad, so she quickly cleaned it and filled it with some swaps, before securing it tightly with some tape and bandages.

“Why don't you stitch it up?” The girl asked, watching Sameen carefully.

“Don't need to.” Shaw answered, glancing at the girl. “It needs pressure to clot and really... the only purpose of stitches are to make the scarring less ugly.”

Shaw leaned back, breathing through the pain, before pulling her shirt back over her head. The girls dark brown eyes still watched her intently, looking slightly worried.

“Hows your arm?” 

The girl looked down at her injured arm, where Root had cut out the chip, before looking back up at Shaw with a shrug. 

“Here, sit down. Let me take a look at it.” Shaw said, slowly pushing herself off of the table, still feeling dazed.

The girl sat down on the table, pulling her red stained sleeve up. Shaw inspected the arm carefully, watching the girls face, to make sure she wasn't hurting her. 

The medical stuff was definitely a welcome distraction from Root current situation, so Shaw gathered some more utensils, before she started to clean the girls injury.

“Whats your name?” Shaw asked, only now realizing, that she had been so caught up with Root that everything around her had just blurred into the background. 

“Subject four.” 

“Subject four?” Shaw repeated confused with raised eyebrows. The girl nodded again, looking back down at what Shaws hands were doing.

“Thats not a name… .” Sameen stated, stopping what she was doing to look at the girl in front of her.

“Thats what they call me.” the girl answered shrugging.

“...Ill just... call you Four for now then.” 

The girl only responded with a shrug; “Whats yours?”

“Im Shaw.”

“This isn't the first time you have done this.” the girl pointed out, nodding towards her arm.

“No. ...please hold still. “

Both stayed silent until Shaw had finished patching the girl up. When Shaw was done, she had to rest her body against the table, she could feel her legs shake again and she was getting light headed. 

“I think you should probably lay down Ms Shaw.” Four said worriedly.

“Its just Shaw.” the dark haired woman mumbled annoyed, pushing herself back up on the examine table, to lay down.

The girl was doing something but Shaw had a feeling that if she looked around to watch what Four was doing, she was either going to puke or going to pass out. After another moment the girl appeared next to her again holding a needle and a bottle of NaCl in her hand.

“You lost a lot of blood, you need some volume in your system. I can do it, ...If you let me.”

Shaw eyed the girl up and down; “How do you know how to do that?”

“Can I?” Four asked again, ignoring the question.

Shaw closed her eyes and nodded, holding her arm out to the little girl. Shaw was impressed when the girl injected the needle into her arm, like it was her second nature.

Both of them were quiet for another moment, until some of the liquid found itself in Shaws system.  
Before Shaw had regained some strength to ask the girl where the hell she had learned something like this, especially that a girl her age shouldn't know how to do this, the girl spoke up.

“I learned that a couple years ago. Sometimes they… they put us into simulations, we didn't know that it was just a simulation, it felt like it was real life. This is a vital skill to survive.”

“Simulations?” Shaw asked, turning her head to be able to look at the girl.

“Yes. There were 6 of us. Subject one died … I think it happened two weeks after he got there. He didn't make it through the simulations. They wouldn't tell us what had happened to him, ...Subject 2 took over, she got killed 3 weeks ago. They put me through simulations since I can remember, thats also why I don't have hair.” the girl said, pointing to her shaved head.

“...The electrodes wouldn't hold and kept falling off ending the simulations, which is quite a painful process. I was supposed to take over, because they were going to send subject 3 to take over a different state. So Im wondering… Is this just another simulation, a test?”

Shaw watched her, taking in what the girl was asking her.

“Please tell me this is real… I don't want to go back there… .” Four started to plead. 

“No! This is Not a simulation.” Shaw said, not really sure how else to comfort the girl.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

After Shaw had made sure Roots was alright, John had come to pick her up. Shaws body felt tired and her mind was drawing blank as she followed behind John and the little girl into the parking lot.

When they got to Johns apartment they were greeted by Harold, who had just cooked some dinner. John and the girl joined him, while Shaw went right for the shower. She let the hot burning water run down her sore body, enjoying its warmth for a moment. Slowly the blood stains and dirt started to wash off of her body and after 30 minutes, Shaw got out.

She started to dry her hair, when she could hear Harold's voice shouting;” NO! You cant touch something like that… its bad! You can hurt people! ...”

Shaw quickly walked out of the bathroom, watching Harold pointing his finger at the little girl. John came up next to her and they both looked on in confusion.

“Whats going on Harold?” John asked, walking closer to him.

“Whats going on?” Harold asked outraged. 

“Ill tell you John… That little girl here, was playing with your gun, that YOU left on the living-room desk, knowing well enough that a kid was around.” Harold kept scolding.

“I was just cleaning it! I turned my back for 2 minutes Harold… .” John said with a calm voice.

Harold started to hold up the gun, “Its still a gun John!”

“Its not like anything happened Harold.” John shrugged, not seeing why he was making such a big deal out of it.

“John… she could have hurt herself, or any of us! You cant just leave your guns around the house.”

“Its not like I left bullets in it, and I had dismantled it I really don't… .” 

“You call this dismantled?” Harold asked again, carefully showing John the gun again.

John looked at it confused, the gun wasn't dismantled, it was in one piece.

“Im sure I left it… .”

“It doesn't matter how you left it Jo… .” Harold started again, before he was interrupted by the little girl next to them.

“Im sorry, It was me. I put it back together. I was told once to never leave a gun dismantled… and I thought that .. I don't know.. im sorry!” the girl said, looking shyly at the ground.

All eyes were directed at the girl, who still starred shamefully at the ground.

“Impressive.” Shaw said smiling and nodding proudly.

Harold glared at her, but before he could say something John interjected;

“You know how to dismantle a gun and put it back together?”

The girl nodded.

“Could you do it with my MP-7?”

“John… ” Harold said shocked.

The girl smirked nodding, “I can dismantle and put together almost every weapon that the military uses or is used by 3 letter organizations.”

It was complete silence for a minute, until Harold asked with shock lazing his voice. “Who would teach you something like this?”

“People.. I only know some of their names… they didn't want me to get to attached to one person, so they brought in someone new almost every months.”

“Every months?”

The girl nodded again. Harold eyes were full of terror, when he looked back up at Shaw and John in disbelieve.

“I think she had enough going on for a day, come on I'll show you your room.” John said, bringing his hand to her back and guiding her to another room.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Shaw sat down on the couch, letting her hand run through her hair. She could hear Harold mumbling to himself while he started to clean the kitchen. Sameen leaned back, letting her head rest against the couch.

After a moment she could feel the couch dip slightly. Quickly she opened her eyes looking at John who had placed a plate of food in front of her.

“You should eat… .” he said, leaning back against the couch.

Shaw didn't need to be told twice and quickly started shoving the food inside her mouth.

John started to take off his boots, before dropping his gun back on the table.

“Doesn't the kid remind you of someone?” John asked after a moment.

“I mean besides the shaved head.. she kinda looks a bit like.. “

Before he could finish his sentence Shaw swallowed, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Seriously John?”

“Don't say it hasn't crossed your mind yet… .”

“It actually hasn't… well until now… .” Shaw answered annoyed.

“So do you think she could be Roots ?” 

They looked at each other, before both of them started to shake their heads snorting,

“No way! Root would never…. .” Shaw began, looking back at John as both stopped laughing, realizing that they barely knew anything about the woman.

“No!” Shaw stated determent.

“No.” John repeated, shaking his head again.

There was a minute of silence before John leaned forward, “You need to ask her!”

“Why do I need to ask her ?” Shaw said annoyed.

“Well, because she is not my girlfriend!” John responded amused.

“She isn't mine either!” Shaw spat back angrily.

“Sure Shaw… you keep telling yourself that… I guess you just spent every week tracking some random girl you don't care about down, rescue her under gunfire and stay with her in the hospital w.. .”

“I just wanted to make sure she was okay! That doesn't mean she is my girlfriend!” Shaw responded balling her hands into fists.

“You know what Shaw… After everything you two have been through… and seeing you push her away, you know what that tells me.. ?”

Shaw rolled her eyes annoyed, crossing her arms in front of her, she angrily looked at John daring him to go on.

“No John, what does it tell you… enlighten me.. .”

“It tells me that you had to make sure she was okay and when she was awake it got to real. It scared you. It freaked you out and so you pushed her away again, obviously not remembering how well that worked out for you the last time.” he finished smugly. 

Shaw shook her head annoyed, looking anywhere but at John.

“You have no idea how wrong you are!” she said, clenching her jaw. She got up and walked away from him.

“You keep telling yourself that.. but you know one day don't come crying to me.. .”

“Don't worry … I can promise you that that wont ever happen… .”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Shaw woke up to her phone ringing somewhere in the distance, she slowly blinked her eyes open, feeling around for it. She quickly realized that it was ringing in a different room and slowly got up following the sound, until the ringing stopped.

“No its John...She what? No.. Yea I will tell her … ok .. !” Shaw could hear John whisper.

“Whats going on?” Shaw asked, letting her hand run through her hair.

“Uh, you should go back, get some sleep.”

“John! Whats going on? Who called?” Shaw asked getting suspicious.

After a moment of contemplating, John answered;” It was Jason, they don't know what happened, but Root seemed to have reacted to something they moved her back into the Intensive Care unit.”

“What? … I've got to go!” Shaw mumbled, feeling those cold hands crawling towards her chest constrict her lungs again, she rushed over to the couch, quickly putting on her jacket.

“Shaw… maybe you should… .”

“What John?” Shaw asked furiously.

John watched her for a second, before extending his hand towards her.

“You can take my car.”

Shaw squinted at him, quickly taking his keys and driving back to the hospital.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Both Daniel and Jason quickly got up from their seats, when they saw Shaw storming into the hospital.

“Where is she?”

“They moved her back to Intensive Care.. .”

“She is alright,.. .”

“What happened?” Shaw interjected angrily.

“She reacted to some medications. They said she went into shock, but they injected her with something and she is okay now. They just want to keep her in the ICU for a 24 hour watch.” Daniel said, trying to defuse the situation. 

As if on cue, one of the nurses came to tell them that only one person was allowed in and not anyone was objecting or even suggesting anyone else to go in- other than Sameen.

She quickly followed after the nurse, who brought her into Roots room. Shaw was really getting tired to see Root like that. She walked over towards the brunette, doing a quick assessment of Roots state. The vitals the monitor showed were thankfully stable, she reached out for Roots arm, only now noticing the track marks. She shook her head angrily. How had she not seen them before? What the hell had Root done? But whatever she had done, it must have been the cause of her heart damage. She let go of the brunettes arm again, pulling the lone visitor chair over towards Roots bed and took a seat.

Shaw had been sitting by Roots bedside for almost one hour. She kept watching the green line on the monitor that showed the brunettes heart rate. The light in the room was slightly dimmed and Shaw barely had gotten any sleep. After another moment her eyes fluttered closed. Her head dropped forward, waking her up instantly again. Shaw was beyond exhausted and the position she was sitting in was extremely uncomfortable. She leaned forward, resting her arms on Roots bed, burring her head in between her elbow.  
Within a second Shaw had fallen asleep.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shaw was pulled out of her sleep again, when she could feel thin fingers running through her hair, massaging her scalp.

Shaw slowly looked up, looking right into Roots dazed eyes. She pushed herself up into a better sitting position, before pushing Roots hand away from her face.

“You're awake!” Shaw mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

Sameen watched as a big smile stretched on Roots face, and Shaw couldn't help but stare at her, wondering how she could look so sick and beautiful at the same time.

“I missed your face!” Root slurred, unsteadily reaching out for Shaw again.

“You look pretty awful.” Shaw said dryly, pushing Roots hand away again, before leaning back and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Roots smile started to falter and she rolled her eyes at Sameen. She started to look around and seemed to have realized that she was in a different room. 

Shaw got up stretching her limbs, her back feeling stiff from being hunched over for so long. But before she could move anywhere Roots fingers enclosed around her wrist stopping her from walking away. 

“Why are you here?” Root asked with a slur, trying to focus on Shaws eyes.

Shaw only now noticed that the brunettes eyes were glassy with medication. She shook her head, not saying anything. She didn't know what to say, she hadn't really thought about why she was there, she just knew she needed to be.

When the silence stretched into minutes, Root finally let go of Shaws wrist again, looking away in the opposite direction.

“I don't like hospitals.” Root mumbled, pulling the covers up to her chin and Shaw noticed that she was shivering.

“You went into shock… .” Shaw whispered almost accusingly.

“Hmmh?” Root looked back at Sameen who was avoiding her gaze.

“They said you reacted to some medication and had an anaphylactic shock, so they put you on a 24 hour watch.”

Root nodded slowly and a smirk stretched on her lips.

“So all a girl got to do, to get your attention is to almost die?” Root tried to flirt. Shaw had a clear view of the brunettes abnormally dilated pupils and unfocused eyes now. She shook her head, rolling her eyes in annoyance and balling her hands into fists. 

Shaw moved forward, pulling the hackers hospital gown down, to show Root the implanted ICD.  
“You know they implanted an ICD in you, because your heart is failing you?”

Root tried to look at what Shaw was showing her, but Shaw wasn't sure if she had gotten the message across, because all Root did was to touch the skin, where it was implanted and smiled back at her shrugging her shoulders in responds.

“Well.. thats need!”

Shaw squinted at her, shacking her head in disbelieve. Shaw turned away from Root, anger building up inside of her. She swore to herself the moment Root was better she was going to kick her scrawny ass for this.

“Are you still angry with me?” Root asked pouting.

Shaw couldn't look at her, she had so many questions, there were so many things she wasn't sure about anymore, but in the state Root was in right now there was no point in arguing with her.

“I couldn't involve you in any of this, .. I wanted to tell yo… .” Root started slurring again.

“Root just …stop! We can talk about this when… you know.” Shaw started gesturing up and down Roots body. “You're not high of your ass!”

“We could hug it out!” Root suggested, and Shaw was sure she was sporting a smirk. 

Shaw turned around and watched her for a moment; “I think I liked you better when you were still unconscious!”, Shaw said, and before Root could respond anything, Shaw released a breath and walked over towards the door.

“No! Please don't go!” 

The desperation in Roots voice made Shaw stop in her tracks. Root watched Sameen standing almost in front of the door, she waited and when Sameen wasn't saying anything, she let her head drop back down against the pillow and slightly turned around in her bed, with her back turned towards Shaw. She closed her eyes, not really wanting to know how Shaw was going to decide.

And Shaw wanted to go, she wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't carry her, they only turned her around walking her back to her seat. She knew that Root wouldn't hold it against her if she would leave now. Shaw wanted to go, knowing Root was okay, but there was something deep inside her that wanted to vomit at the mere thought of leaving Root alone here in this room.

Sighing, she slouched back down in the chair, leaned her elbows on the cot, burring her face inside her hands. After a moment she could feel a hand reaching out for her and cold fingers wrapped themselves around her hand, pulling it away. Root threated their fingers together and Shaw couldn't believe that she was letting her get away with it.

Both of them stayed silent and after a couple minutes Shaw noticed that Roots breathing pattern had changed and her heart rate went down. She had fallen asleep again. Shaw couldn't help but study Roots face.

After another uncomfortable hour of awkwardly sitting on Roots bedside, her legs had fallen asleep and her outstretched arm started to hurt, so she slowly tried to pull her hand back, but was met with a tighter grip.

Root turned her head around sleepily, looking up at Shaw, before letting go of her hand. The brunette raised a questioning eyebrow at her, but wouldn't say anything.

“I just cant sit anymore.” Shaw stated, stretching out her limbs.

Roots eyes seemed slightly steadier now, and her eyes inspected Shaws body, but not in the way they usually did.

“Have you actually gotten any sleep at all?”

Shaw just shrugged, sitting back down in the chair.

“Sameen you need to sleep!”

Shaw just looked at her, not really knowing what to say, since Root was the one asking her to stay in the first place.

“I can scoot, the bed is kinda small, but we will both fit! … I mean.. if you want to.. .” Root suggested and Shaw was surprised to not hear a sign of an innuendo or obvious hidden attentions.

After Shaw didn't reply, Root added ;”You know.. just sleep, you shouldn't need to sleep in that chair, just because of me!”

“I could leave.” Shaw stated dryly.

“You could leave.” Root repeated, knowing that Shaw wasn't going anywhere.

After another long moment of contemplating, Shaw still hadn't decided and she actually looked like she was having an inner conflict, so Root gave her the space she needed and turned around as far as she could without pain, shuffling to the edge of the bed, so if Shaw wanted to share the bed, they wouldn't need to touch.

When Root was almost at the verge of falling asleep again, there was a sudden dip behind her and a cold breeze of air, when Sameen lifted the blanked up, to get under it. Shaw laid down next to her, but far enough away so they weren't touching.

Shaw was watching the ceiling, suddenly feeling more awake. Root still had her back turned towards her, but Shaw knew that she hadn't fallen back asleep.

“Who are you?… I mean who are you really?” Shaw asked, not able to hold it back anymore.

Root turned around, facing the other woman, who was only a laying couple inches away from her. 

“Who do you think I am Sameen?” Root asked, looking obviously surprised at the question.

Shaw didn't answer, but turned her head to look at Root with raised eyebrows.

After a moment Root smiled again, turning around on her side so she was fully facing the persian woman.

“You know who I am Sam. I never lied to you!…. I thought you knew that!”

Shaw scoffed at that, looking away and focusing back on the ceiling above.

“Well… obviously there were a lot of things you haven't told me.”

“That wasn't my call.. she wouldn't let me!” Root tried to justify, shacking her head.

“She?” Shaw asked annoyed looking at Root again.

“The machine! Besides would you have believed me if I had told you that there were 2 Artificial Intelligences out there and one was being held as a prisoner while the other is trying to control everything… .” 

“You are implying that I had thought you were sane in the first place.” Shaw answered, with a light smile.

Root playfully pushed Shaws arm, “There is no need to be rude!”

But before the brunette could retract her hand, Shaw had caught it, painfully squashing it in between hers. She looked at Root, making sure that she would understand every word she was about to say.

“If you ever… pull something like that again… I will personally murder you!”

Root smirked through the pain, looking at Shaws lips. Shaw watched Roots eyes, not able to hide the slight smile, she shook her head at Root.

“What?”

“I've heard that threat before… I have seen nothing yet… .” Root smirked, leaning closer towards the persian woman.

Shaw watched her, with an open mouth, not sure how to respond to it and let go of Roots hand  
“Oh you just wait!” 

Root still smirked and rather than retracting her hand, she reached out, brushing a strand of hair away from Shaws face, before cupping her cheek.

How did you actually manage to find me? I got rid of the bug.”

“I have my ways… .”

“You threatened the boys… didn't you?” Root concluded.

“Does it matter?” Shaw asked, pulling Roots hand away from her cheek.

“No… .”Root said smiling brightly.

“What?” Shaw asked defiantly.

“Nothing… .”

“Root!”

“Its just… You did all that … for me … It just shows that… you know… you care more than you'd like to admit!” Root stated with a huge smirk still on her lips.

Shaw was quick to pull away wide eyed. “What? That.. I don.. .”

Root cupped Sameens cheek again, not wanting Shaw to run.

“You asked Sam… But we don't need to talk about it.”

“...There is nothing to talk about!”

“Sameen.” 

“What?” Shaw asked getting angry.

Root starred at her and after a couple seconds of contemplating, she brushed her hand through Shaws hair.

“Thank you for protecting them and taking care of Claire!” Root whispered, looking away.

There was a long moment of silence, where neither of them looked at each other.

“Thats her name? She said they never gave her a real one.”

“Thats kind of true. She doesn't remember, she was only a couple minutes old when her mother named her.”

“You know her mother?” Shaw squinted at her in question.

“You could say that.” Root answered, retracting her hand and turned to lay on her back.

“Please tell me she isn't yours.” 

“God no!” Root answered laughing slightly.

“So.. .” 

“You remember when I told you about my friend Hannah?”

Shaw did remember and she wasn't sure if this was a save topic for Root, she remembered the brunettes nightmares about her friend who had been kidnapped. Shaw just nodded, not wanting to press the hacker for more information than she was able to give.

“After I had found out that my mother had died, I wanted to leave Samaritan, but the deal that I had accepted was long forgotten by Greer. He didn't care, he threatened that if I wasn't going to do what they told me and kept working for him, it would result in huge consequences. Back then I wasn't sure what else he could do to me after my mothers death, which they had tried to hide from me.”  
Root began, turning back onto her side to fully face Shaw again, who was listening intently.

“They made a man named Trent Russel kidnap her, what they didn't know, or didn't care to know was that he was a pedophile… He raped her and kept her for himself a couple of weeks before he brought her to their facility… .” Root stopped talking, taking shallow breaths, Shaw was sure the brunette had never told this story to anyone before.

“… She got pregnant and they only realized that after it was to late. I don't really know the details of the story but they came to the conclusion that it would be great to have an interface for Samaritan who would be brainwashed since childhood, growing up in their facilities, they would be able to tell the kid whatever they wanted and they were sure the kid would eat everything up. It would be the most loyal servant they could have. So they decided for Hannah to get the child and take it away as soon as they could. They started to create whole army of kids, they were training them to be just interfaced for Samaritan one for each state.” 

“When I had tried to run again, they brought me back and put me into a cell, thats when they told me that they had Hannah. She was the only human left that I cared about and they knew that and thats why they used her… “Root stopped again, clearing her throat.

“I did a couple more missions for them, secretly gathering information to shut their operation down, when I was sure that I had enough the machine contacted me, it realized that I wasn't an agent for Samaritan anymore and understood that I wanted to bring it down, it made me an offer… She told me everything, but wanted for me to trust her and trust in her plan, so weirdly I did. I trusted that machine… and we talked, we talked almost every day… she kept me informed on Hannah. The day Hannah was delivering, she contacted me too. But, it was to late… .” Root said, ending with a shrug.

There was a long moment of silence, where Root was just starring at the pillow Shaws head was resting on. Shaw could tell that it wasn't easy for Root, but she was sure that it was something Root wanted to let her. 

Shaw watched a tear form on the side of Roots eye and brought her hand up wiping it away with her thumb, trying to encouraging Root to keep talking, indicating to her that she was still listening.

“...The machine… She had told me that Hannahs had given birth... but was bleeding excessively and that she wasn't going to survive. She… She connected me to her, minutes before she died… She looked horrible, I could hear her kid crying in the background, it seemed fine, but all I really cared about was her! She was crying, she was in great pain…. There was blood everywhere... I tried to apologize to her… She … She wouldn't listen… All She wanted was that her child… that… She made me promise… to… to save her daughter Claire… that she would forgive everything.. if I saved her… I had to promise her… .” Root started crying and buried her face in her own hands.

“I wanted to make them suffer, I wanted to kill them with my bare hands, I wanted to look them into their eyes when I choked the life out of them, when I watch them die… .” Root went on, anger now dominating her emotions.

“But the machine stopped me..” Root scoffed, wiping furiously at her tears.  
“She told me that I would kill Claire if I would do anything irrational, I would sign her death certificate. So I did the only thing I could think of I ran… . They couldn't know that I knew Hannah died, then they would surely kill me and I had made a promise to Hannah that I intended to keep! I couldn't die yet… .” 

Root wiped at her eyes, not able to look at Sameen anymore, she wanted to turn around, but was surprised when Shaw put a hand on her arm stopping her from turning away. 

“… I was ready to die… and then you came along… And I was scared. Scared when I fell for you, scared about what was going to happen to you… what they would do to you if they found out...I couldn't risk you… I know you could have handled yourself, but I couldn't risk it, when the machine told me what would happen and Im not sorry Sameen, Im not sorry that I didn't tell you because the mere thought of anything happening to you is... .” Root stopped, shaking her head.

“And now.. Im still here… with this thing on my broken heart, with the machine finally free and we are finally able to take Samaritan down. Daniel, Daizo and Jason are alive, and Claire is save... and with you.. telling me your done… walking away from me... .”

Shaw listened intently, waiting for the point she wanted to make but Root just shook her head, wanting to turn away again. Shaw stopped her, tightly holding onto her shoulder. She shook her head at the brunette in utter disbelieve. 

“Root, don't you get it? Im here because I … .” Shaw began, but cut herself of, trying to find the right words, she wasn't really sure where she was directing this conversation to.

Root starred expectantly at her. Her eyes quickly scanning Sameens face, wanting for her to keep talking. 

“...because… I … sort of… kind of… care.. for.. you..”Shaw mumbled, looking at her own hand on Roots arm fidgeting with Roots hospital gown. 

Root suddenly looked up, her eyes wide in shock, before a smile stretched on her lips again.

“Are you getting soft on me Sameen?”

Shaw rolled her eyes annoyed, but before she had time to open her mouth to respond, there were soft lips on hers and Roots body was pressing against hers and she didn't care anymore, she brought her arms around Roots body, pressing her even closer before returning the kiss.

The monitor above them suddenly started beeping loudly, making both women pull back and look at it. Roots heart rate was quicker than it was supposed to and before Shaw could make a medical connection to it, Root was smirking at her, making Shaw roll her eyes.

Shaw could already see another retort on Roots lips, but she desperately needed her to stop talking. She leaned forward capturing Roots lips. A warmth spread from her mouth to cheeks and she didn't pull back until the feeling had filled every inch of her body, pushing out the chilled hands that had tried to hold on to her. Root stared at her, inspecting every inch of Shaws face, before snuggling into Shaws side and resting her left arm over Shaws stomach. Shaw wrapped her arm around Roots back, pulling her even closer.

“I sort of care for you too.” Root stated smiling, not looking at Sameen.

“Hows your leg?” Shaw asked, clearing her throat.

“Probably hurts, but I wouldn't know.. my pain meds are working wonders… and in case of emergency I have a hot med student laying right next to me.” Root smirked.

Shaw only shook her head in responds. “I hate you… .”

“No you don't… you care for me!” Root mumbled loudly, before snuggling inside the nape of Shaws neck.

“Goodnight Root!” Shaw said, shacking her head again, already regretting her confession.

“Goodnight sweety.”


	18. Chapter 18

It was still in the middle of the night when Root started to wake up to a feeling of panic. Her body was shivering and cold sweat had started to form on her forehead.

This was nothing new to her, most nights she woke up like this, some nights worse than others. Usually she would get up and take a shower, or she would curl up into herself and try to go back to sleep, which mostly ended up being impossible.

This night was different than most nights. Her heart was still beating out of her chest and it was hard to breath, but only a second after she opened her eyes, strong arms pulled her closer, a breath of air caressed the wet skin on her forehead and soft lips were pressed against it.

Root was disorientated, the sudden feeling of panic and constriction suffocated her, as she tried to lift herself up to take a quick look around. 

The room was still dark, only illuminated by the light coming from the monitor above, casting the body underneath her in a faint glow. Quickly the memories from hours ago formed inside her head again, as she realized that Shaw was still there and hadn't left.

She starred at Sameen for a moment, finding comfort in the sight in front of her. Shaw looked beautiful, especially with how the light was reflected on her face. 

The moment didn't last long, as she felt the persian woman steer, she groaned and smacked her lips together, before pushing Root back onto her chest, locking her in a tight side hug.

Root stiffened, before slowly relaxing her muscles again, curling further into Sameens body. It had been to long since they had found themselves next to one another. Within seconds the panic had vanished, as she listened to the slow beating of Sameens heart. It felt so good to have her back, to lay next to her, to know that she was save, that they were keeping each other save.

She was sure that Shaw had to be in deep slumber, pulling her so close, pressing her tightly against herself. The coldness inside her chest was gone, replaced with a warmth Root only felt when she was near Sameen. The brunette couldn't help but smile and be relieved. She adjusted her leg and nuzzled her face deeper into Shaws neck, breathing the other woman in, finding the comfort she had been looking for. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come for her again.

 

It felt only like minutes had passed, when Root woke up again, feeling fingers inside her hair, stroking it. She refused to open her eyes, in fear of Shaw stopping her movements, allowing herself to enjoy this moment. She tried to keep her breathing shallow and calm, staying still in an attempted to not alert Shaw in any way that she was awake, but only after a moment the persian woman stopped her movements, chuckling to herself.

“You know that… I know that your awake right?”

Root couldn't help but smile, curling further into Shaws side, keeping her eyes tightly closed and nuzzling her face further into Shaws neck.

“Root… .” Shaw warned, but she couldn't hide the smile playing on her lips.

The hacker only groaned, before slowly lifting her head and sleepily looking into Shaws dark brown eyes. She studied the persian womans face for a moment, before she smiled again, gaining an questioning eyebrow from Shaw.

“What a sight for sore eyes!” Root flirted, propping herself up on Shaws chest, still smiling widely at the other woman, who was already rolling her eyes at the come on.

Shaw wasn't even able to think of a comeback, before Root squinted at her, her smile never leaving her lips.

“Have you been watching me sleep?”

“Now that would be creepy… .” Shaw retorted, recalling their first interaction in the hallway.

“Well I guess your a big creeper than, she told me you have… .”Root mocked, pulling Shaw impossibly closer.

Shaw shook her head again, covering Roots face with the palm of her hand, trying to push her away.

“Ugh! Your awake for like a minute and your already annoying!”

“Admit it, you limmpfft mmhbbh.” Root laughed, while Shaws hand was covering her mouth, trying to shut her up.

“Ssssshh! You just go back to sleep!” 

Sameeeee…. .” Root tried to whine, squirming away from Shaws hand still covering her mouth.

“Autsch!” Shaw jerked away, quickly retrieving her hand, looking at it in confusion.

“You bit me!” She stated.

Root took the moment of surprise and held on to Shaws wrists, pushing them down and quickly, but carefully climbed ontop of Shaw, pushing her uninjured leg in between the other womans.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Root challenged, eyebrows raised.

Shaw quickly secured Root ontop of her, mindful of the womans injuries. Her fingers quickly sneaked under the hackers t-shirt, digging her fingernails into Roots already heated skin.

Root watched the smile stretch on Shaws lips, before she finally leaned forward, closing the distance between them, roughly pressing their lips together.

Much like the previous kisses, Root felt overflowed with warmth and emotions. She buried her fingers deep inside Shaws hair, who immediately tried to deepen the kiss, running her tongue over Roots.

The brunette couldn't help but moan into Shaws mouth, pressing herself closer towards Shaw, as blunt nails scraped along her abdomen, sending little shivers shooting straight to her spine. She relished in the feeling of Shaws hands roaming her body, not able to stop herself from rocking her hips into the dark haired woman underneath her.

Shaw was first to break their connection, face looking flushed and breathing hard. Root needed a second to understand why she had pulled away, only now hearing Shaws phone ringing.

Shaw was already reaching out growling in annoyance, before she accepted the call.  
“What?” she asked angrily, making Root smile.

“Shit… yea Ill be there in a minute!”

Shaw threw her phone back, releasing an annoyed breath, before looking back up at Root.

“I have to go… my shift starts in 20 minutes.”

“What?... But what about your other patient?” Root asked pouting.

Shaw only shook her head, trying to push Root off of her. 

“I think my ‘patient’ had enough private doctor time...”

“Oh I definitely have not had enough private doctor time!” Root smirked, pressing Shaw back against the mattress, before capturing the other womans lips again.

“Root… I …. rea...lly … need… to … go… !” Shaw moaned in between kisses, half-heartedly trying to stop Roots roaming hands.

“Just call in sick!” Root breathed out, as her hands made their way under Shaws bra, curling her fingers around Shaws breasts, palming and squeezing just hard enough to make Sameen whimper.

“Im serious!” Shaw groaned again, turning her head away from Root, who only took it as an invitation to kiss down her throat.

Shaw growled again, flipping their positions, before giving Root a last peck and climbing off the bed. 

“Ill be back later… .” 

“But doctor, who will take care of my needs?” Root pouted.

Shaw shook her head in disbelieve. “Dont be such a baby!”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Root was glad that Daniel had dropped by in the afternoon, he had stayed for an hour catching her up on everything. He thankfully had thought on bringing her a laptop, so she was able to do some work.

 

She had been typing for hours, completely lost in her code, until her eyes kept falling close. She suddenly jerked up when something soft hit her on the side of her face.

“Ouch!” Root yelped, sitting up straight, realizing that she had fallen asleep. She rubbed at the spot that was hit, before looking at the wrapped sandwich that had been thrown at her. 

“Eat!” Shaw said roughly, already tearing into her own sandwich.

Shaw had sat down in the chair next to Roots bed, she was still wearing her white medical apron, looking like she had been up for days. Deep bags were under her eyes and her hair was slightly tousled. 

Root carefully shut her laptop, before placing the sandwich on her desk. She leaned forward, inspecting Shaw more closely. 

“You look like you had a rough day!”

“Well some of us cant actually stay in bed all day.”

Root only raised an eyebrow at that, patiently waiting for Shaw to continue, whose only importance right now seemed to be the sandwich she was holding.

Shaw wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, swallowing the last piece of her sandwich. Her eyes skipping from Root to the sandwich and back to Root.

“Eat!” Shaw repeated, pointing to the sandwich on the desk next to Root.

“Can you tell me what happened first?”

“Tell you what?” Shaw asked confused.

Root smiled at that, taking the sandwich and slowly taking a bite from it.

“You look tired.” Root tried again.

“Oh.. yea, there was a bus crash, I spent the last 4 hours, including the overtime in the trauma room, trying to keep the bus-driver alive. I just need to rest for a moment.” 

“My hero.” Root stated sickeningly sweet, smiling at Shaw, who only rolled her eyes, resting her head in her hand. 

Root ate half of the sandwich, before wordlessly holding out the rest of it towards Shaw, who was already hungrily eying it.

Shaw leaned forward taking a hold of it, when suddenly Roots other hand engulfed her wrist, pulling her up and towards Root.

The brunette let go of the sandwich and grabbed the hem of Sameens shirt, pulling her close and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. 

The hacker kept pulling the other woman closer and closer, forcing her to climb onto the bed, Shaw quickly placed the sandwich on the desk next to them, never breaking the kiss.

Shaw was straddling the brunette, returning the kiss with as much fever as the hacker, until Roots hands started to travel south.

“Wait… .” Shaw mumbled, slowly pulling away from Root, eyes still closed.

“Im really tired.” Shaw whispered, resting her forehead on Roots, eyes still closed.

Root chuckled, caressing Shaws cheeks, giving her a quick peck.

“What? Did my poor doctor exhausted herself so much with her other patients that sh… .”

“Root I swear to god, finish that sentence and I walk!” Shaw said, shacking her head, before slowly climbing off of Root and settling down next to her.

Root only chuckled, shuffling enough to the side so Shaw had enough space to lay down next to her.

“Are you saying, that you plan to stay the night?” 

“Only because im already here… and I would have to drive another hour to get home.”

Shaw reached over Root, grabbing the rest of the sandwich. Root only smiled, at the obvious lie, but wasn't going to comment on it. 

Shaw had devoured her sandwich in a minute, falling right asleep after. Root had continued with her code, giving Shaw space if she needed it.

Root could tell that Shaw had been exhausted, she had been asleep in no time. Root couldn't help herself to look over at Sameen every now and then. It was fascinating how small and innocent Shaw could look when she was asleep.

After an hour of coding the hacker stored the laptop back in the drawer, switching off the lights and climbing back into bed next to Shaw. 

Root watched the ceiling for a moment, letting the last couple days sink in. She had been sure she had lost Shaw, she had been determined to die for her and the boys, for Hannah. She had never thought that she would actually ever get what she had wanted. Okay, maybe she wasn't there yet, but she was on her way and the first step was that Shaw was there, willingly. Shaw even had admitted that she cared, and that she wanted to be there. Thats all she needed for now. 

She turned on her side, so she was facing the sleeping woman, watching her for a moment, before shuffling closer and laying her head down on the persian womans chest, resting her arm over Sameens body.

Sameen quickly jerked awake to the unfamiliar sensation of having someone curl up next to her. Root immediately looked up apologetically.

“Sorry… .” the brunette whispered, slowly moving away again.

Shaw only blinked at her with sleepy eyes, before pulling her arm out from underneath the blanked and to Roots surprise she put it around the brunettes back pulling her closer and burring her face inside Roots hair.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The next morning Root woke up alone. Guessing that Shaw had probably been called to an early shift, she slowly got up and got dressed.  
Shaw didn't come visit that day, Root had stayed up all night waiting for her. When she didn't show up the next day either, she started to get slightly worried.

“Is she alright?” Root asked.

“Primary Asset Sameen Shaw is currently at her shift at the Memorial Hospital, she is save.”

Root only nodded, some of the fear that had settled inside her chest was leaving, but she was still worried why Shaw hadn't shown up.

Root hated being in the hospital and she only put up with it because she thought that Shaw was going to visit, but this was the fourth day she hadn't shown up, or even given her as much as a call. Maybe she just needed space, maybe she was just overworked, or maybe … Root wasn't sure exactly. She only knew that she was supposed to stay in the hospital for another 5 days, but she really felt like she couldn't. 

The morning of the fifth day, there was a light knock on the door, so quiet that she would have missed it if she hadnt been waiting for a knock in 5 days on that door.

“Yes!”

But the person that entered was no one that Root had ever expected. It was Shaws mother.

“Hi!”

Root only watched the woman wide eyed and she suddenly felt sick. The first thing she noticed was how worried she looked and it freaked Root out. Her stomach turned into knots and she felt like she needed to puke.

“How are you?” Nasrin asked, giving her a light smile. Root could tell that she was forcing it, -it never reached her eyes.

“Whats wrong?” Root asked right away, not missing a beat.

“Have you seen Sameen? She hasn't been at work… I mean… She said she was staying for another 2 weeks, but she hasn't come home, which … okay is not unusual, but… sometimes I check up on her.. Im just worried! I know she can take care of herself… but she is still my daughter!” the woman cleared her throat, looking away.

“I… I have this weird feeling, that something isn't right. I checked up on the hospital and they told me they haven't seen her in 3 days… This is not like Shaw, I know her… and no one seems to be able to tell me where she is. I even checked the bars she sometimes goes to, but nothing. So I called Zoe, who connected me to John who told me she was probably with you. You were my last hope… He told me you were here… By the way why haven't you told me that you got shot?”

Roots eyes widened, the fear from the other day gripped her chest again, a coldness spreading inside her, crawling into her lungs and chocking her. She pushed the blanked away from her, jumping out of the bed, wincing at the pain in her tight.

She quickly graped her jeans, shirt and her leather jacket.

“Where is she?” 

Nasrin looked up at her confused at the question.

“Im not able to locate the Primary Asset Sameen Shaw.”

Root stopped in her tracks, swallowing hard. “Is she alive?” she asked, her voice shacking.

Silence.

Shaws mother looked horrified, but Root was to caught up in getting an answer that she did not notice. Root stumbled into the bathroom, quickly dressing herself.

“I asked you a question! IS. SHE. ALIVE?”

“Primary Asset was last seen 3 days ago at 9pm walking into a blacksite.” the machine answered after another 2 minutes had passed.

Root shook her head, her mind was going over any possibility. She was angry at herself for not looking for Shaw sooner, to think that she might be happy, to think that she might be save.

“And your only telling me that now?” Root yelled angrily in disbelieve. She felt betrayed by the machine, they were supposed to work together, she was supposed to keep Shaw save.

She slammed the door open again, quickly stuffing her laptop into her bag and retrieving her gun. Nasrins eyes widened in shock, when Root checked it for bullets.

“Ill find her!” Root stated determined.

Shaws mother only looked at her, not knowing what to say, she slowly nodded her head.


	19. Chapter 19

After some heated arguments between Root and the machine, the hacker had been able to narrow down Shaws whereabouts to a black-zone only 17 miles from the hospital Sameen worked at. Root was terrified, she was sure she had never felt so much anxiety inside herself before.

She even had trouble hot-weiring one of the cars in front of the hospital. Her hands were shacking relentlessly and the tears that were forming inside her eyes made it hard for her to see anything else than blurry colors. 

When the engine finally began roaring to life, she quickly threw her bag on the passenger-seat, before slamming her boot down on the gas pedal.

She was recklessly driving through the streets, not stopping for anything. The machine had anticipated Roots recklessness and was able to interfere in the traffic lights, so Root wouldn't get herself killed, before she would even be able to get to Shaw.

Root had made it in record time, the car squealed to a halt, tires screeching, smoke rising and filling the air with the smell of burnt rubber, as she made her way out of the car, throwing her backpack on and disappearing from the machines view altogether.

Gun in hand and panting, the brunette made her way down the street, slowly rounding corners and taking in everything that looked even a little suspicious.  
She tried to push the fear out of her veins, that invaded every inch of her body, making her walk on slightly shacking legs. 

Breathing heavily, trying to control the constriction in her chest, she tried to keep her mind form wondering about what she was about to find. She came to a stop behind a bar, hearing something rustling behind the dumpsters. Root tightened the grip on her gun, slowly making her way around the dumpsters, aiming at the head of a black figure crouched in the corner. 

Root stayed quiet, slowly walking towards it, her gun never leaving the target.  
The figure suddenly looked up, right at her, like she knew that there was a person pointing a gun at her, with no sense of danger at all.

The woman scoffed, before she shook her head, looking away again.

“Shaw?” Root chocked out, gun almost slipping out of her hand. She rushed forward, falling hard onto her knees in front of Shaw, bringing her hands up to cup the other womans face in her hands. 

“Root what are you doing here?” the persian asked annoyed, trying to squirm away from the hacker.

Root ignored her, inspecting the hurt womans face. There was a deep cut on her lip and a blue, almost green looking bruise right under her right eye. Another deep cut was next to her temple, a slow stream of blood running down on her face. 

“What happened? Who did this to you?” Root hissed, feeling hot with pain and anger at herself.

Shaw pushed her away again, frowning at her.

“What are you doing here?” She repeated.

“I was worried about you … .” Root answered, her voice breaking. She reached out again, pushing a strand of bloody hair away form Sameens eyes.

“Just go Root. Im not in the mood for this right now… .” Shaw said annoyed, pushing the brunettes hand away for the third time.

Root leaned back, eyes wide in disbelieve. She took a hold of Shaws bruised up knuckles.

“Im not going anywhere until you tell me what happened!”

Shaw shook her head again. Closing her eyes, she slowly let her head drop back against the brick wall.

“I got into a fight.. thats all. Can you leave now?”

Root still starred at her, not understanding what was going on. 

“Shaw… ?” Root chocked out again, this time keeping her distance from the other woman.

They looked at each other, until Shaw couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stand to look into Roots expressive eyes, that were watering with tears anymore.

“I got fired.” Shaw shrugged, starring at the sky above them. 

“What?” 

“Apparently Im not able to be a doctor because… Im incapable of feeling things. Its what makes me a bad doctor.” Shaw said frustrated, balling her hands into fists. 

Root could smell the alcohol on the other womans breath now, slowly she was coming to the realization that she had never been in danger. Well, not in danger of Samaritan. Shaw went into the back-zone because she didn't want to be found. She wanted to be alone, she needed the distance, but Root wasn't going to let Shaw get away from her again, so tried to reach out again, cupping Shaws cheek again, slowly stroking it with her thumb.

“Well thats some bullshit… .”

“Its not Root. And if you would have even half of a mind you would go now, before I… .” 

“Before you what Sam?”

Shaw only turned her head away, looking at something in the distance. Root could feel the pain behind those dark, angry brown eyes. She knew Shaws was hurt, she also knew that she had needed her distance, but Root also realized that she was willing to let her in, whether she herself had realized it yet or not.

She leaned towards her again, bringing her arm around Shaws neck and pressing her lips against Sameens.

Shaw needed a moment, before she returned the kiss. Shrinking against Root, before pulling her closer and burring her fingers inside Roots jacket. 

After a moment Shaw pulled back, hissing at the cut on her lip, bringing her finger up to wipe at the pool of blood that had started to form again.  
She starred at it for a second, before sighing loudly.

“What am I supposed to do now? Im in my last year of college, they will throw me out, regardless of how good I am at what I do. All I have ever worked towards was this. Its what im good at.” Shaw said angrily, letting her head hit the brick wall behind her again. 

Suddenly Root started smiling, playing with the hem of Shaws shirt, letting her fingers draw out random patterns. 

“We’ll figure it out.”

“What do you mean?” Shaw questioned, looking curiously back up at Root.

“Maybe your headed into a better direction. You know one doors closes, two more open. The bigger picture.” Root said, nodding encouragingly. 

“Wait. Did ‘she’ have something to do with that?” Shaw asked, slowly squinting at Root. Her alcohol intoxicated brain slowly forming a conclusion. “Tell me.”

The hacker only smiled at her, tilting her head to the side, pouting. 

“Just trust me… .”

“Stop being cryptic, what did she say?”

Root only shook her head, stroking Shaws cheek, before she tried to push herself up on her feet again. She winced at the pain in her still healing tight, quickly putting pressure on it, to distract from the pain it caused her.

Shaw watched her, before she slowly pushed herself up, too- using the brick wall and pulling Root up with her.

Shaw lightly swayed to the side and Root quickly steadied her, putting an arm around Sameens waist to support her.

“Come on Sweety, lets get you home.”

“Root wait!” Shaw looked down at the ground again, pushing Roots arm away and letting her body rest against the wall.

“Im sorry Root. I tried, but I cant do this… .”

“What? What do you mean?” Root asked confused.

“I don't know Root. This… Im not made for this kind of stuff.” Shaw said, not meeting Roots eyes.

“Look Root, I never had this…. Never wanted this… sort of… relationship with someone.” Shaw said, shacking her head, trying to find the right words.

“I cant be the person you need me to be. You know that I cant feel things like other people do. I will probably never tell you those three words you probably want to hear, because im just not able to feel that way. But you deserve this Root, you deserve someone who can give you all that, who would be a family to you, remember your birthday, or who would comfort you, knowing what to say or what to do, when your down or sad, or in pain. I don't know how to do this… relationship thing… I don't know what to do when your there, or what you want me to do. So… you should go. Go and don't look back. And I will do the same.”

“You’re drunk! We should g… .” Root mumbled numbly, turning to leave, hiding the tears forming in her eyes.

“No Root. Im serious.” Shaw said, holding onto Roots arm, stopping her from walking away.

“Sameen… you’re not making this decision for me. I… I would never ask you for anything you couldn't give. I don't want you to change. I want you exactly the way you are. You might think your not capable of feelings, but Sweety… you’re showing me nothing but just that. I don't need to hear those three words from you, to know how you feel. I don't need you to take care of me, im a big girl. I will not walk away from you and I will take anything you can give me, even if thats nothing.”

“You’re going to get hurt! “

“Maybe… but shouldn't I be able to make this decision for myself? Tell me Sameen. Do you want me to leave? To turn my back on you… after everything?”

Shaw starred at her, eyes shining with something that Root couldn't decipher. She shook her head again, eyebrows tightly knitted together.

“Thats not… . Root, thats not what I… its not relevant.”

“It is to me Sameen. I know you have feelings for me, even if you say you don't feel. I don't care… I just… I just want you Sam.”

Root slowly walked closer to Shaw, tilting her head so they were looking at each other. The hacker smiled, brushing the other womans hair out of her face, slowly letting her thumb run over the cut on the persian womans lip.

Shaw starred down at the ground defeated, letting herself sink into Roots arms. Closing her eyes and letting herself enjoy this moment. Root was beyond stunned that Shaw was letting her hug her, but also got the impression that the hug was exactly what she needed. So she pulled her closer, bringing her into an even tighter embrace. Shaw let her arms hang loose next to her, but she slowly let her head rest on Roots shoulder, until she couldn't take the closeness anymore and pushed her way again.

“Lets go back, your Mom was worried too.” Root said, putting her arm around Shaw, who leaned some of her weight on Root, wincing as Root moved them into the direction of the stolen car.

“Wait. What are you doing out of the hospital?”

“Uhm.. I signed myself out. I think I spent enough time in there anyway.

Shaw tried to stop her from walking, looking up at her incredulously. 

“Root, you shouldn't be out of bed!”

“Says the one who cant even stand on her own.” Root mocked, only gaining an eye roll form Shaw. 

“… who needs the hospital anyway, when I have a sexy, perfectly capable doctor, who cares for me, right here.” Root finished smiling.

“Ugh! I should have never have told you that!” Shaw mumbled annoyed.

“Im glad you did.” Root smirked, giving Shaw a quick kiss on her cheek, before adjusting her arm around her and helping her into the car.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When they got back to Shaws home, Nasrin was already waiting. She was sitting by the kitchen desk, mindlessly turning the spoon around in her tea. Root could tell that she hadn't taken a sip yet and if the lack of steam was anything to go by, she was sure the tea had gone cold for quite some time.

Nasrins head snapped up, the moment she heard the key turn in the lock and the door creaked open. She breathed a long breath of relief, when she saw that there was someone right behind Root.

She tightly bit her own lip, when she saw her daughter walk into view. She starred at Sameens bloodied face and bruised up body, but stayed silent. 

Shaw said nothing, only nodded at her mother before walking straight into the bathroom. 

Root stayed back, looking at Shaws mother who had been holding back tears that were now forming in her eyes. She still starred at the place Shaw had been standing in a second ago.

“She is going to be alright!”

Nasrin only looked up at Root, nodding her head after a moment. 

“She just had a rough couple of days.” Root stated, not sure if she tried to comfort Shaws mother or herself. 

Root followed Shaw into the bathroom, only stopping when Nasrin cleared her throat.

“Thank you Root.” 

The hacker turned around, looking at Nasrin, before nodding her head.

 

When Root entered the bathroom, Shaw had already taken of her shirt and was standing in front of the mirror inspecting the cuts above her right eye.

“Here let me do it!” Root said, walking towards her, placing her hands on Shaws hips, guiding her to the bathtub to sit her down.

“I can take care of my own wounds… .” 

“I know that. I want to.” Root said, walking back towards the sink, gathering her supplies, before making her way back.

Root started to clean Shaws face, carefully brushing the blood away and inspecting the bruises and cuts. 

“So, how many people did you rope into a fight?”

Shaw looked questioningly back at the brunette. Root only pulled up her sleeves, before gathering some silk to stitch her up.

“I will tell you, if you answer me one question.”

“Hmm, what do you wanna know?” Root asked, leaning slightly away to look curiously down at Shaw. 

Shaw watched her for a moment, before reaching out and stopping Roots hands. Her fingers travelt down Roots arms, stopping at the trackmarks on the underside of the hackers arms.

“What is this? Why did you do this?”

“Thats more than one question.” Root muttered under her breath, pulling her arms out of Sameens grasp. Subconsciously running her hand up and down the marks on her arm. 

Shaw still starred at her expectantly. Root could tell that Shaw wasn't going to let this go. So she sighed deeply, before releasing a breath, shacking her head.

“I didn't do it. It was a woman, named Control. I had information she wanted.”

“Are you saying she tortured you?” Shaw asked confused and angry at the same time.

“Yes, she is fun like that.” Root paused for a second, while Shaw glared incredulously at her waiting for her to continue.

“In the 1960s the government experimented with various substances to enhance interrogations a barbiturate in one arm to knock you out and amphetamine into the other. A sort of… .”

“She put you through a roller-coaster ride… why?” Shaw asked in disbelieve, her eyes never leaving Roots. 

“… because she wanted information that I wouldn't give her.” Root repeated, shrugging. 

“The machine?”

Root only nodded, busying herself with the sterile-stripes for Shaws cuts. 

“I couldn't give up the machine, so when she was unsuccessful with the drugs, she performed a stapedectomy on me… .Trying to cut off any link I had to her.”

Shaw looked like she had been punched in the face by Root, she pushed Roots hands away, starring at her with a primal fury that Root had never seen in her eyes before. 

“Why didn't you tell me Root? I could have helped!”

“You know why.” Root answered, pulling her hands out of Shaws grasp and continuing patching the other woman up. 

“I hope you killed her.” 

Shaw kept watching her, after another moment when Root was almost done Shaw arms encircled Roots waist, pulling her closer, so close that the brunette was forced to sit down on Shaws lap.

“You’re n idiot!” Shaw whispered, pulling Root into a deep kiss. The hacker wrapped her hands in Sameens hair, pulling her in for a more passionate kiss, causing Shaw to lean forward and both of them to loose balance and tumble down on the cold floor. 

Shaw fell down on top of Root, instantly straddling her. Root gasped and Shaw took the opportunity to slip her tongue into the hackers mouth.

Root scratched her nails down the bare skin on Sameens back, trying to pull her closer. Their tongues dancing around each other, teasing and twisting, building the intensity. 

They both suddenly tasted blood, pulling away from another, realizing that Shaws lip had started bleeding again. They both chuckled and untangled themselves. Shaw pushed herself up, before extending her hand down towards Root.

“Your such a tease… .” Root growled annoyed, before letting the persian woman pull her up.

Shaw only smirked at her, before turning her around to check behind Roots healed ear. 

Root grabbed her hand and turned around, standing right in Shaws space, her eyes still lingering on Shaws lips. 

“Dont ever do that again! I thought that… they got to you.” 

“I didn't mean to scare you, I just nee… .”

“I know. Just give me a heads up next time.” Root mumbled, not catching Sameens eyes.

Shaw only nodded, looking away also. “Im sorry Root.” 

Shaw gave Root a quick peck on the lips, before walking out of the bathroom. Root watched her leave, before rearranging her disheveled hair. When she left the bathroom too, she came to a quick stop. 

Shaw was sitting on the kitchen counter with her mother standing in front of her, inspecting the cuts on Shaws face. Nasrin seemed to always be worried about Sameen, but she also knew that she was more than able to handle herself.

“You know I was worried sick. I just wish you would talk to me sometimes.” Nasrin was saying more to herself than to Shaw. She turned Shaws head around in her hands and Shaw let her, but didn't look very happy about it either. 

“Are you going to tell me what happened? 

“I got into a fight… .” Shaw mumbled, squirming away from her mother touch now. 

“Yes, I can see that… and what made you so angry to go looking for one?” Nasrin asked curiously, now crossing her arms in front to her chest. 

Shaw looked up a bit surprised at her mother, before she shrugged.

“Im your mother Sameen… I raised you. I know something must have happened.”

“Why don't you just ask Root… .” Shaw said, not really feeling like talking. Root wondered if Shaw was actually feeling embarrassed or scared about what her mother would think of her. 

“Because im asking you. So tell me, now!” Nasrin demanded. 

“… I was fired… Im never going to be a doctor.” Shaw said, shacking her head, not able to keep the anger out of her voice. 

“What? Why? What do you mean?” 

“They dont want someone like me working on their patients.” 

“Well thats nonsense. You are just perfect the way you are, they are idiots,” Nasrin said, also getting angry now.

“Maman, its okay… don't… .”

Nasrin only gave her a small smile, before bringing her arms around her daughter and giving her a tight hug. Shaw immediately tensed up, but let the hug happen.

“It doenst matter, Im so proud of you. No matter what! And your father would be too.” 

She finally released Shaw again, who still looked mildly uncomfortable. Her mother caressed her daughters cheek for just a second, before turning away from Shaw altogether again and shifting her attention back to the food she was cooking. 

Root gave them another 2 minutes, before she decided to join them in the kitchen. Nasrin turned, giving her a small smile, before her eyes seemed to widen just a bit. She quickly looked away again, Root thought nothing of it and walked back to Shaw, lifted herself up next to her on the kitchen counter.

She felt a sudden buzz on her leg and pulled her phone out of her pocket. 

“Uh, Root.” Shaw whispered, pointing at her mouth.

Root only smirked, leaning towards her teasingly, but was quickly pushed away again. 

“You got some blood on your mouth and chin.”

“Oh.. .” Root said confused, wiping it away, before unlocking her phone and reading the text message. 

Shaw watched her curiously. “ Whats up?”

“I just got a text from Harry. I have to go.” Root announced, jumping off the counter.  
She touched Shaws leg, slightly leaning in.

“See you later?” Root asked hopeful. 

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Harry needs me to pick up Claire. ”

Root picked up her bag, making her way out of the kitchen, before she realized that Shaw was following her.

“Wait… Im coming with you.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

“What exactly are you going to do with her?” 

“With Claire? Ill bring her to Hannahs father. She will be save there and she can grow up far away from all this… .” Root answered, her eyes never leaving the road ahead. 

“How do you know, he will take her in?”

Calculating response… 45% of a positive response.

“What?” Root yelped, her eyebrows tightly kneaded together. “Why did the percentage drop?”

“Mr Frey has met someone… Response is inconclusive...”

“No… no he has to take her in. He will take her in! ...There is no other way!”

Shaw could tell that the machine was talking to her, but also realized that whatever she was telling her was not good. 

“What are you going to do, if he doesn't want her?” Shaw slowly asked. “Or what if he doesn't believe you?”

“I don't know yet.” Root murmured, numbly starring ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * So I have gotten a couple of messages from people asking if im going to finish this story… So I thought I make a quick note, Im definitely planing to finish this story, its probably not going to be more than 2 chapter or less- and if people would be interested I would keep writing, just probably smaller chapters. I know that im not so fast with the updates, but obviously I can only write in my free time. Also when Im not getting a lot of feedback, I get lazy because it feels like no ones reading and is interested in the story anymore... -(I guess that could be applied to every writer on this website). Also again sorry for some of the grammatical mistakes, again my first language isn't English so please go easy on me.*


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter, I hope you still like it.

Shaw was carefully watching the road ahead, very much aware that the Machine must be talking to Root,- if the far away look on her face was anything to go by.

Normally Shaw would never let other people drive her, but for some reason she seemed to have gotten comfortable and was trusting Root enough, that she had only noticed when the engine had roared to life that she had sat down in the passenger-seat.

She guessed that it had something to do with wanting to be in control, or maybe because of what had happened to her father. Regardless of which was true, the fact was that Root was gripping the steering-wheel so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.  
Root was starring at the road ahead, but was obviously not focused on the road, rather the voice inside her head.

Guessing by the look on Roots face and the way her foot was pressing down on the gas pedal, whatever the Machine was telling her seemed to have an obvious affect on her.

They were easily crossing over the 170km/h mark on the tachometer and Root didn't look like she was going to slow down anytime soon. One thing was sure, Shaw was never going to let Root drive again! 

Suddenly Shaws body was thrown to the side, as Root yanked the car, tires screeching and without warning to the side of the road, before bringing the car to a full stop.

Shaw was holding her breath, her hand subconsciously holding onto the handle of the door. Without a word, Root got out of the car, slamming the door shut, before stalking angrily away in the opposite direction, leaving Shaw to wonder what the hell had just happened.

She was still sitting in the car, looking after Root, who was making her way down the hill, yelling something and throwing her arms up in the air exasperatedly.

“Okaaay...” Shaw breathed out slowly, unbuckling her seatbelt before also getting out of the car. Root was definitely never allowed to drive again!

She made her way around the car, before sitting herself down on the hood, patiently waiting for Root to cool down and return.

Root always seemed like she had everything figured out, or knew exactly what to do, but this time it felt different. She seemed to be lost, she rescued her god and she fulfilled her promise to Hannah. The boys were save and Daizo had his family back. 

Shaw sighed deeply. There was one thought in the back of her brain, it was like an itch. Root had never planned to make it out of that facility alive, she had wanted to die. Sameen had known that a long time now. The brunette had come back to say goodbye in her own way, to make it easier. The hacker had never counted on Shaw to catch on that quickly, she must have also deceived the boys. Shaw was sure they would have never have let Root walk into certain death,- at least not with a good reason.

Daizo was supposed to take Claire to her grandfather and if there had been any problems Shaw was sure Daizo had taken her into his own family, but Root had made it out alive and the responsibility for the kid had shifted to her.

Shaw caught movement out of the side of her eye and turned her head, only to see Root coming back up the hill. She was red faced and looked defeated. Shaw watched her curiously, waiting for Root to finally fill her in.

“Hey psycho! Mind filling me in on what the hell is going on?” Shaw yelled, while jumping off the hood and leaning against it.

Root only kept walking, until she reached Shaw, crashing into her and burring her face in her neck.

Shaws eyes went wide, before she brought her arms around the brunette, not able to retain her eye roll. 

Roots hands were clutching the front of her shirt. She was breathing heavily, pressing herself closer to Shaw.

“The odds are almost none existing now… .” the brunette mumbled into Sameens neck. 

Root suddenly looked so small, causing Shaw to bring her arms tighter around the other woman.

“Why?”

Shaw could feel Root shrugging her shoulders, before she slightly leaned away from Shaw again, looking nowhere in particular.

“Hannahs father… He met someone. During his vacation in Florida he was accidentally assigned the wrong room, because of that he met a woman. They spent their 2 week vacation together and apparently they are already thinking about getting married.”

“But that doesn't explain why the odds have dropped.”

“Yes it does Sameen. Hes been alone for almost 6 years. He would have taken her in whether he had believed me or not. He was sick of being alone, but now he has found someone else. “

Shaw shook her head, slightly squinting at the other woman.

“The odds aren't in her favor! He doesn't need her anymore, either he will deny her or he wont listen, not wanting to believe or hear about what I have to tell him.”

“… we should still try.” Shaw mumbled, looking anywhere but at Root.

The hacker tried to smile, but failed horribly. Shaw wondered how low the odds had dropped to make her look this sad. Root leaned in again, her whole body going slack, curling into Shaws, letting her head lay down on Sameens shoulder.

“I don't know what to do… I cant take care of a kid! She was supposed to go live with Mr. Frey or Daizo would have taken her … and now… they are back in China. I cant put her in someone elses home… who knows what will happen to her there! They don't know what she has been through… She should grow up far away from all that! She deserves a better life than she had.”

Shaw could feel the slight tremble in the brunettes body. Ugh! She was going to regret this… .

Shaw slowly rubbed her hands up and down Roots shoulders, trying to calm her down. 

She sighed deeply, before whispering.

“If he is not going to take her in, we will figure something out! Since I probably get thrown out of college the second I get back anyway… Ill go looking for an apartment where she can stay until we can come up with something else.”

Root pushed herself slightly away from Shaw, looking at her with an calculating stare.  
Shaw looked away, trying to squirm her way out of the situation again, before she could feel Roots fingers on her chin, turning it towards her face.

Root suddenly looked grateful, her eyes shining with something that Shaw couldn't pinpoint. They starred at one another for a moment, until Root finally pulled her in for a kiss.

Shaw was first to break it, clearing her throat and quickly stealing the keys out of Roots jacket pocket.

“Come on nerd! Harold is waiting.”

Root groaned loudly, her arms dropping to her sides. 

Once they were back on the road, Root was quietly starring out of the window. Shaw could tell that Root was still anxious. 

After watching Root out of the corner of her eyes for awhile, she wondered if the Machine was talking to her again.

Root looked more miserable by the minute. The persian slowly reached her hand towards the other woman. Slowly grasping Roots tight before letting it slowly move upwards towards Roots hand. She could feel the brunette react immediately, engulfing her hand in a tight grip. After a moment Shaw wondered if it was for Roots benefit or her own.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When they arrived at Johns apartment, they could see Harold already standing in the front door. His eyes were wide, as he quickly limped towards them, his briefcase tightly tugged under his arm.

“Im sorry Ms. Groves, but I have to get back to the campus! John has just arrived, I didn't know if you could make it… he is upstairs with Four. I have to say this girl is remarkably smart.”

This definitely had to mean something, coming from Harold, he was not easily impressed. He quickly winked his goodbye, before quickly limping towards his car.

The little girl came sprinting out and engulfed Shaws legs in a tight hug. Shaw looked down at the girl wide eyed. The girl quickly let go of her again, before stepping slightly away and looking at the ground.

“Hey kid.” Shaw said, not able to hide the smile playing on her lips.

“I thought you wouldn't come back.” the girl confessed, sadly looking up at Shaw, but she was smiling nonetheless.

“Ladies… .” Shaw heard John say from the doorway.

“John!” both woman said in unison.

“Harold already filled me in. Ill get her bags.” John said smiling, before disappearing inside the house again. 

Claire quickly ran back inside, leaving Root and Shaw alone by the car.

“You sure you want to come?” Root suddenly asked hesitantly.

Shaw turned to her, frowning.

“I cant let you drive that kid all the way to Bishop by yourself… with your driving style you will never arrive there alive.”

Root smirked at her. Knowing full well that wasn't the only reason.

John returned with a black bag in his hand, next to him Claire with a bag pack on her shoulders.

John stored the bags in the trunk of the car, before crouching down in front of Claire, letting his hand ruffle through her still short hair.

“Will I see you again?” the girl asked.

John only smiled at her, letting his hand rest on top of her shoulder.

“Of course… You can call me or Harold any time. Keep out of trouble.” John said smirking.

The girl threw her arms around him and John lifted her up, hugging her back.

“Thank you John.” the girl whispered, but loud enough for Shaw to hear it.

He only nodded, before letting her down again. He leaned down, zipping up the little girls jacket, before giving her one last pet on the head.

“Time to hit the road kids… “ Root said amused, watching Johns interaction with the girl.

Claire climbed into the backseat, while Shaw was getting into the drivers side.

“Thanks for looking after her John! I owe you.” Root said, leaning over the car door. 

John only nodded his head at her, watching as they drove away.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i could finally find some time to write another chapter, its sorta short but still hope you like it.

Shaw was sipping on her probably 16th coffee, trying to keep her eyes open. They had been on the road for almost 13 hour now, only stopping for occasional bathroom and eating breaks. 

They were making good speed along the highway, especially since they drove through the night were the highway was empty for the most part.

Roots head was resting on her leather jacket wedged between the window and her shoulder. Sameen could tell that she was drifting in and out of slumber. Occasionally Root would look over and ask if she should take over and drive for awhile, but Shaw only shook her head. 

Root wasn't going to protest, but Shaw noticed that the further they drove and the more tired she got, Roots eyes kept watching her more closely. Shaw wondered if she did it because she was just done sleeping or because she wasn't sure if Shaw could handle the sleep deprivation any longer.

Claire was still sitting in the back, she hadn't even as much as tried to go to sleep, even after Shaw had told her to. She was only starring out of the window and sometimes humming to the quiet music coming form the radio. Shaw wasn't sure what made her stay up, but if she had to guess she’d say the girl was scared. Somewhere in her mind she was probably anxious believing that they could still bring her back to a place like the Samaritan facility they had kept her in for years. 

Shaw could feel her eyelid getting heavier by the minute. She took a deep breath, straightened her back again, before blinking her eyes open and shifting her focus back on the road ahead.

Suddenly she could feel slender, cold fingers close around her hand and entwining their fingers. Shaw looked over at the brunette, who was slightly smiling at her. Even though she had at least gotten some sleep, there were deep bags under her eyes making her look more tired than rested.

“Sweety, maaaybee you should get some rest and let me drive for a little while… .” Root said, still smiling at her, tilting her head to the side, only gaining an raised eyebrow from the persian woman. 

“Ill be careful… promise!” Root quickly added, crossing her fingers in front of her smirking.

Shaw starred at her for a long moment, her eyes flickering to the road and back to Root. She groaned after another moment and nodded her head in defeat. 

“Alright...” Shaw said slightly defeated, but internally happy to get some sleep. 

Shaw took the next exit, getting Root a coffee from the gas station and switched places with her. Shaw pulled the hood from her sweater over her head, covering her eyes from the sun. She watched the road for sometime, having to make sure Root was actually sticking to her promise. 

After almost 20 minutes back on the road, Root sighed loudly and turned towards her again.

“As much as I love you watching me drive, you really should get some rest.” 

Shaw hid her smirk behind her hood and shook her head in disbelieve. She stole Roots leather jacket using it much like Root had only half an hour ago and rested her head against it. She closed her eyes, slipping in and out of the dream state several times, but never able to really go over the verge of sleep completely. 

It had began to rain and for some reason it had gotten a lot colder. Shaw could hear the rain drop against the metal of the car outside. She still had her eyes closed, but recognized flashes of lights passing by the darkness of her eyelids. 

“Did we leave the highway? Where are you going?” Shaw mumbled, pushing herself into a sitting position, looking around.

“A Motel. I cant drive anymore and neither can you!”

Shaw groaned, squirming in her seat. She turned back towards Root and opened her mouth to protest but the -”Don't even think about it”- look Root was giving her silenced her immediately.

Simultaneously Root steered the car into a parking lot in front of some shady motel. She killed the engine, stealing her leather jacket back from Sameen and put it on. 

“Ill go get us a room.” she said, leaning over and giving Sameen a quick peck on the lips, before getting out of the car.

Shaw rolled her eyes at Root. She turned, looking in the backseat, noticing that sleep had finally come for Claire. She was hunched over in the backseat, looking rather uncomfortable. 

Shaw got out of the car, getting her bag from the trunk and walked over and opened the door to the backseat.

“Hey kid?… hey?” 

Claire wouldn't steer, only mumbled something and smacked her lips together.

Shaw rolled her eyes again, before slowly unbuckling the girls seatbelt and scooping her up in her arms. The girl quickly threw her arms around Sameens neck, nuzzling her face further into Shaws hair. Shaw closed the door and locked the car, making her way towards the direction Root had left.

Root almost smacked into them when she was coming back outside again. There was an instant smirk on her lips.

“This way Sweety.”

Root opened the door to their motel-room for them. It looked … well it looked pretty shady, like you would imagine it to look really. At least there were two beds standing next to each other, only separated by a wooden night desk. 

Root walked around Shaw, pushing the covers away from one of the beds, before making her way into the bathroom.

Shaw carefully laid Claire down on the bed, pushing the covers over her, watching Claire immediately turning on her side and curling up into herself.

Shaw threw down her bag on the empty bed, before stretching her back.

She was still stretching when she suddenly felt Roots fingers sneak under her shirt from behind her, making her way around her waist, pulling her back against the brunettes front. 

She could feel Roots lips on her neck, placing soft kisses on her neck. Shaw turned around in her arms, raising her eyebrows at Root. 

“Ugh…! You’re so lucky we got company, otherwise there would be no chance in hell I would let you sleep.” Root said smirking, letting her hands rest on Shaws ass.

“Is that right? Shaw asked, fumbling with Roots belt, pulling her closer.

“Uh huh!” Root smirked, tilting her head and squeezing Shaws ass.

Shaw smiled slightly, pulling Root into an passionate kiss. She didn't know why, or even understood how Root was making her do those things, or why everything was so intoxicating with her and only her. Shaw never believed in soul-mates, and she would still deny it but deep down she believed that if something like “that” existed, Root would be hers. 

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt and heard Root moan contentment into the kiss, she urgently pressed herself closer and allowed her tongue to slip through the hackers lips. Roots tongue was soft and slick, welled up against Sameens own and then withdrawaled. When Shaw looked up at Root again, she smiled.

“What?” 

“You taste like old coffee.” Root mumbled.

Shaw only squinted at her, before squirming away from Root.

“No c’mere..- I don't mind… Kiss me again… .” Root said smiling, pulling Shaw back by her pants pockets. 

“Get your hands off my butt!” Shaw said slightly amused. 

“Gimme a minute… .” 

Shaw turned around stabbing Roots sides with her fingers, making her jerk away from her laughing.

“Thats not nice.” Root said amused, sitting down on the empty bed, kicking her shoes off.

Shaw made her way into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She got undressed and took a quick shower. When she returned Claire was still fast asleep and Root was laying in the other bed. She looked at the brink of sleep, but was obviously waiting for Sameen to return. 

Shaw climbed into the bed next to Root, also getting under the ugly red covers. 

“You’re still up?” Shaw mumbled, turning on her side, with her back turned towards Root.

Shaw closed her eyes, making herself somewhat comfortable, when she could feel Roots body curving around her back and the brunettes warm mouth slowly kissing its way up to her ear, leaving goosebumps in its wake. 

“Is this okay?” Root asked shyly, not wanting to push to much.

Shaw rolled onto her other side, facing the hacker and reached out for her. Root smiled again, curling into Shaws side, laying her head down on the persian womans chest. 

Sameen knew it wouldn't matter one way or another. If she would tell Root no, the moment she would fall asleep they would find their way together anyway. 

She had slept next to Root so often now that it wasn't bothering her so much anymore. In fact she had even started to miss it when Roots thin, long body wasn't next to hers, not that she would ever admit it to Root though. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Shaw was first to wake up. To her dismay she somehow had ended up being the little spoon. She slowly squirmed out of Roots embrace, careful not to disturb the sleeping woman next to her. She sat down on the edge of the bed, letting her hand run through her hair, stretching her back. She looked over at the other bed, only to notice that it was empty.

“Claire?” Shaw whispered, looking around the room, standing up and knocking on the bathroom door, before walking inside, finding it also empty. She quickly threw on her black hoody while making her way outside.

Thankfully she didn't have to look very far. The girl was sitting on a wooden bench eating a toast, swinging her legs back and fourth. 

“Hey kid! What are you doing?” Shaw asked, taking a seat next to her on the bench.

“You both were still asleep, I didn't want to wake you up so I went outside.” She only shrugged, before paying all her attention back to her food. 

“Where did you get that?” Shaw asked, clearing her throat uncomfortably and nodding towards the girls toast. 

“I got it from the vending machine over there… most of the people administrating them never change the universal code… .” she mumbled between bites.

“Just press the ##**##** buttons followed by the number you want… .”

“So your saying you stole it?”

The girls eyes went wide, she looked down at her food before looking back at Shaw.

“I didn't have money… .” She said it like it was justifying stealing it. 

Shaw only smirked nodding her head. “Its okay kid.. just don't let it be a habit.”

“Where are we really going?” 

“What do you mean?”

The girl stopped swinging her legs, turning her upper body towards Shaw, giving her a serious look.

“Are you bringing me to another of those facilities? Did I do something wrong? Maybe I need more of those pills… I haven't… .” the girl went on. 

“Wait… What pills?”

“The pills… they are blue and have motives on them.”

Shaw starred blankly at the girl, trying to figure out what it meant.

“… they were supposed to make us more efficient on our missions. More alert and less anxious… .” the girl began to explain. 

Shaw starred at her. They were giving those kids pills to dim their emotions. As if the brainwashing and the torture wouldn't have been enough.

“Morn’in kids!” Root said, walking over to them, already dressed and ready to go.  
She threw a wrapped sandwich at Shaw who caught it and smirked.

“Ill get us checked out… .” Root stated, walking away towards the reception. 

“Hey… You will never have to go back there okay! Ill make sure of that!”

The girl starred at Shaw for a moment, eyes wide. She needed a moment to process what Shaw had just told her and slowly nodded her head in appreciation. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After another 4 hours on the road they made their first stop.

“Get yourself something to eat.” Root said to Claire, handing her some money without looking at her. 

Shaw quickly made her way to the bathroom. When she returned the girl was sitting on the hood of the car, eating ice-cream and Root held out a coffee and a wrapped sandwich for her. 

“How long do you think will be on… .”

“Around 7 hours… We should arrive probably at around 11pm.” Shaw answered.

Sameen went around the car, looking for her bottle of water when she heard Root saying; “I don't know… .” somewhat rudely. 

She realized that Claire must have asked Root something. Coming to think of it Root had been acting strangely towards the girl since they had picket her up at Johns.

She never spoke to her unless Claire asked her something. She seemed to avoid her, even ignore her a couple of times. Shaw had never thought anything of it until now. 

“… hasn't talked to me in sometime… “ Claire finished. 

Root only shrugged not even catching the girls eyes. 

“...Maybe she is angry with me… .”

“I don't know kid..” Root answered, walking away and into the store.

Shaw watched them, before walking around the car again and stopping in front of the girl.

“What was that about?” 

Claire only shrugged her shoulders, straightening her clothes. 

“I asked her why the machine is silent. She hasn't talked to me in almost a week.”  
the girl said, sounding sadly. Shaw almost had to grin. She almost sounded like Root talking about the machine. 

“Hmm.” 

“She used to tell me stories about my mom and her friends.” 

The girl swung her legs again, before jumping off of the hood and climbing back into the car.

Shaw decided on keeping an eye on these two. 

 

They made their next stop after another 5 hours. Root was standing in the line for coffee when Shaw intercepted her.

“Okay what is going on?”

“Huh?”

“Don't you huh me! You acting like that girl stole your computer… Whats going on?”

Root starred at Shaw, before pushing her away from the people to have some more privacy.

“I don't know what you mean! Im not acting an… .”

“Root… cut the bullshit… .” Shaw said crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Root released a breath, her eyes drifting over at Claire. 

“Its just…” Root shrugged again.

Suddenly something dawned on Shaw, its wasn't Claire. This was about Hannah.

“You do realize thats not the kids fault right? This little girl isn't responsible for Hannahs death. She was her mother for god sacks Root...”

“I know that Sameen… Its just… I'm not making her responsible for… .”

“Yes you do! Look at the way your treating her, she really, really likes you. The machine has been telling her stories about her mom and you… Your important to her whether you like it or not. And even if you don't see it and she isn't looking like it, your hurting her, at least try to stop ignoring her. Step up!” 

Root stayed silent, only nodding her head.

Shaw walked back out and got into their car. Thankfully they only had about 3 more hours to drive. Root and Claire only returned after a moment. 

Back on the road she noticed Root fidgeting with her phone now and then. She looked over, trying to catch her eyes, raising an questioning eyebrow at her.

The brunette only gave her a smile, before turning in her seat and looking in the backseat at Claire.

“Heey… Did… Did she ever tell you that your Mom named you after you were born?”

The girl looked curiously back at Root, only shacking her head ‘no’.

“She called you Claire. You were named after her grandmother. She loved you. She wanted so much more for you.” Root said, starring at the little girl, before clearing her throat.

“Her name was Hannah. And you look so much like her. Im sorry that I was rude earlier, its just, you just remind me so much of her. She was my best friend.” Root said, looking at the ground again.

“She told me you stole cakes together.” The girl said, obviously trying to cheer Root up with something.

Root grinned, obviously remembering something. She nodded.

“She could never do it… She always felt bad and had really bad stomachaches after.” Root said laughing slightly. 

Shaw watched Root and Claire over the mirror, hoping that this was all not going to blow up in their faces.


End file.
